Good Afternoon Friends,

Happy belated Super Bowl Sunday and Valentine’s Day! Whether you celebrated both or none, I hope your week has been off to a fantastic start. As you go about your day, I’d like to share a little bit about some of the bills that passed through the House last week.

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022

Prohibiting Non-Consensual Invasive Bodily Examinations

Last Wednesday, we passed House Bill 4194 to prohibit non-consensual invasive bodily examinations on an anesthetized or otherwise unconscious patient. Patients have a right to know what is happening to their bodies while they are undergoing a medical procedure. I’m very proud to support a bill to protect Michigan’s patients.

Increasing Transparency in Michigan’s Certificate of Need (CON) Committee

I also voted “yes” on a set of four bills (HB 5074–5077) intended to provide more transparency to various aspects of Michigan’s Certificate of Need (CON) program. Our state’s CON Commission consists of 11 members, appointed by the governor, who have broad authority over several areas of regulation in our health care market, including, but not limited to: hospital beds, nursing homes, psychiatric beds, neonatal intensive care units, MRIs, CT scanners, cardiac catheterization services and air ambulances.

Together, these bills require the CON Commission to make specific rules, reports, documents and meeting information available to the public within a certain timeframe. Greater transparency in our CON program will help ensure Michiganders can access high-quality, affordable health care in the future, and I’m glad to have helped pass this bill.

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022

Elections to Fill Legislative Vacancies

Lastly, on Thursday, we passed HB 4996, a bill introduced by my dear friend, the late Rep. Andrea Schroeder, that would require the governor to announce, within 30 days of a House or Senate seat vacancy, the date of a special election to fill the vacancy or to direct that the vacancy be filled at the next general election.

While the law does already allow the governor to leave the seat vacant until the next general election or to choose to set a special election, the deadline will ensure that the governor moves more quickly on the decision, which may allow vacancies to be filled faster.

Currently, there are four districts in the Michigan House that are without a representative. Michiganders deserve to have representation in Lansing, and they should not have to go months without an elected official serving their district, whether that be in the House or Senate. This bill leads to a faster turnaround time when vacancies open in the Legislature. It is a bill that benefits everyone, and I am honored to have voted yes on it.

Other bills passed by the Michigan House of Representatives this week include:

More information on these bills or others can be found at www.michiganlegislature.gov or at www.michiganvotes.org.