Michigan lawmakers pass guidelines before recess
Taylor Swift ends Eras Tour in December
For Taylor Swift it is the end of an era.
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As Michigan state lawmakers headed into summer recess after passing a new state budget, they took last-minute action to push through a number of measures while leaving other proposals untouched. The final week of the legislative session before recess offers clues to lawmakers’ top priorities for the rest of the year, with the Democratic majority in the state’s House of Representatives at stake.
Expanding Michigan’s Public Records Law
In a nearly unanimous vote last Wednesday, the Michigan State Senate passed a bill to expand the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to require the governor’s office and state legislators’ offices to disclose public records. A bill to expand FOIA had been stalled in the Senate for years. Michigan’s public records law, which currently exempts the governor and state legislators from such disclosures, has made the state a national laggard in transparency. Michigan is one of two states that do not require these offices to disclose records when they ask for public records.
The bills will next be submitted to the state House of Representatives for consideration.
Expansion of unemployment benefits
In a joint vote, Democrats in the state House of Representatives passed a bill that would increase the maximum number of weeks an unemployed worker in Michigan can collect unemployment benefits from 20 to 26 weeks. Democrats never submitted the bill to a legislative committee for a hearing, so there was no public hearing on the bill before it was passed by lawmakers.
Republican lawmakers expressed concern that extending the six-week period for unemployment benefits would discourage unemployed workers from completing their job searches quickly. The vote for the bill came after the Michigan AFL-CIO pushed for reinstatement of the six-week unemployment benefit that Republican Gov. Rick Snyder cut in 2011. Michigan is among the minority of states that provide fewer than 26 weeks of unemployment benefits, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a policy research organization.
Consumer protection measures known as “Taylor Swift” laws are passed
Two bills to expand Michigan’s consumer protection laws to crack down on online ticket purchases by bots have passed the state House of Representatives with broad bipartisan support. Lawmakers dubbed the bills the “Taylor Swift” laws after automated bots buying tickets for the pop star’s Eras Tour jacked up prices for fans. The bills would prohibit anyone from circumventing measures restricting ticket purchases and would empower the state’s attorney general to investigate potential violations.
The state Senate may take up both the unemployment bill and the traffic ticket bill when lawmakers return from summer recess.
But while these and other bills gained momentum last week, some stalled.
Defence of young people in destitute cases
Michigan lawmakers last year welcomed a series of bills designed to reform Michigan’s juvenile justice system. However, a bill that would have provided legal representation to youth who cannot afford it was removed from the package. In addition, the state budget did not include funding for legal representation for indigent youth.
“We are deeply disappointed that the state budget passed by the House this morning does not provide necessary funding for legal defense for children involved in Michigan’s juvenile justice system,” the Michigan Bar Association, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and other groups advocating for the funding said in a joint statement.
Last fall, the state House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission to develop standards to ensure children in the state’s juvenile justice system have access to lawyers. But that bill, along with the rest of the juvenile justice package, never made it to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk and has since stalled in the state Senate.
Reform of corporate subsidies
Democratic lawmakers have approved large sums for business subsidies designed to spur job growth in Michigan, but are also considering changes to Michigan’s largest economic development fund. The latest proposal would, among other things, require a consideration of whether subsidized jobs are located in an area with high unemployment and would set aside funds for business subsidies — which expire next year — for another decade. It would also create a new transit fund and extend proposed funding for housing and community investments. Whitmer was excited when a House committee brought the bill up for a vote.
“I am grateful to my partners in the Michigan House of Representatives for their action today and look forward to considering this fiscally responsible economic development package when it lands on my desk,” she said in a statement at the time.
But two Democrats in the state House of Representatives wanted changes to the bills, such as raising the corporate tax and cutting proposed business subsidies, leaving the party without the support to pass the plan alone. Meanwhile, GOP lawmakers willing to support the plan introduced their own amendments to ensure funding for Michigan businesses and prevent funds from going to just one region.
Michigan budget: Lawmakers approve $82.5 billion state budget for 2025: What’s in it
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Last fall, the Michigan Senate passed a bill to amend the state’s no-fault auto insurance reform of 2019, which was intended to reduce costs for motorists but caused some medical providers to close their doors to car accident victims. However, the proposed increase in reimbursement rates for providers has stalled in the state’s House of Representatives. The head of the Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) spoke out against the legislative package in the state Senate, predicting it would increase insurance costs. Supporters of the Senate legislation have expressed frustration that the state’s House of Representatives has not taken up the bills, which they call a necessary solution to the unintended consequences of the 2019 auto insurance reform.
Contact Clara Hendrickson: [email protected] or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @clarajanehen.
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