This year, in order to keep you and your neighbors better informed about the legislation we discuss, I am posting the agenda for any scheduled committee meetings at the beginning of the week and an update with any votes that were taken that week in committee or on the House floor. I hope you find this information helpful and please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance.
Jan. 13-17, 2014: House Votes
For votes of the full legislature, I will include a summary of each bill with the sponsor, the vote totals and the next step in the legislative process for the bill. If you would like to read more information about a given bill, you can head to www.legislature.mi.gov.
HB 4629 – (Rep. Jacobsen) – HB 4629 amends the Highway Advertising Act to require a new permit process for digital billboards, address enforcement issues, and to establish a Michigan Billboard Advisory Council.
Bill passed 101-6
Next step: Governor’s desk for his signature
HB 4288 – (Rep. Foster) – Along with 4292, limits the use of indirect audits by the Michigan Department of Treasury.
Bill passed 107-0
Next step: Referred to the Senate Finance Committee
HB 4292 – (Rep. MacGregor) – Along with 4288, limits the use of indirect audits by the Michigan Department of Treasury.
Bill passed 107-0
Next step: Referred to the Senate Finance Committee
SB 337 – (Sen. Brandenburg) – SB 337 creates deadlines that the Michigan Department of Treasury must meet in the processing of clearance requests, refunds and examinations of taxpayer records.
Bill passed 108-0
Next step: Senate for consideration
Jan. 13-17, 2014: Committee Votes
For each bill considered I will include the vote total or write “testimony only” if no vote was taken. Due to the complexity of certain issues, some bills receive multiple committee hearings before being put to a vote. If you would like to read further analysis of a bill, you can access that at www.legislature.mi.gov.
If you would like to read the minutes from a particular hearing or testimony on a bill, you can access that by going to http://house.mi.gov/MHRPublic/committee.aspx and selecting the relevant committee from the dropdown menu.
Regulatory Reform
HB 4582 – (Rep. Foster) – Occupations; residential builders; prelicensure education requirements for residential builders and contractors; revise.
Testimony Only
SB 641 – (Sen. Kowall) – Occupations; real estate; prelicensure and continuing education for realtors; revise, and authorize relicensure of certain former licensees.
Testimony Only
Oversight
HB 5193 – (Rep. McMillin) – Civil rights; open meetings; closed-door sessions for trial or settlement strategy; allow only if matter being discussed is currently being litigated.
Testimony Only
HB 5194 – (Rep. McMillin) – Civil rights; open meetings; accountability for penalties for violating open meetings act; limit defenses.
Testimony Only
Appropriations
The House Fiscal Agency delivered a presentation on the Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference. The CREC took place on Friday, Jan. 10, to assess how much revenue the state of Michigan will have. The consensus among the state’s economists is that Michigan will be facing a $971 million surplus. You can access the HFA’s reports on the state budget and other bills here: http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa/briefings.asp
Commerce
HB 5131 – (Rep. Santana) – Economic development; brownfield redevelopment authority; member of board; allow to be appointed to serve in his or her capacity as elected official, and establish when member’s service as elected official ends the term on the board ends.
Testimony Only
HB 5132 – (Rep. Santana) – Economic development; economic development corporations; member of board; allow to be appointed to serve in his or her capacity as elected official, and establish that when member’s service as elected official ends, the term on the board ends.
Testimony Only
HB 4487 – (Rep. Oakes) – Economic development; downtown development authorities; use of certain revenues for agriculture industry; allow.
Testimony Only
Criminal Justice
HB 4209 – (Rep. Zorn) – Crimes; penalties; crime of soliciting sex act from a minor who is at least 16 years of age; increase penalties.
Reported from committee by a 9-1 vote
HB 4210 – (Rep. Kowall) – Criminal procedure; sentencing guidelines; sentencing guidelines for crime of soliciting a minor 16 years of age or older to commit prostitution; amend to reflect increased penalty.
Reported from committee by a 9-1 vote
HB 5108 – (Rep. Kelly) – Crimes; other; resale of event tickets at higher or lower prices; allow.
Testimony Only
Education
The meeting featured a presentation by the Michigan Department of Education on the Report on Options for Assessments Aligned with the Common Core State Standards. As the state of Michigan moves forward with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards, the report outlines different testing options that will be used to assess students under the new standards.
Here is a link to the report from the Michigan Department of Education: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/Common_Core_Assessment_Option_Report_441322_7.pdf
Tax Policy
SB 146 – (Sen. Young) – Economic development; neighborhood enterprise zones; neighborhood enterprise zone eligibility; expand.
Testimony Only
SB 533 – (Sen. Kahn) – Economic development; brownfield redevelopment authority; date of report for collection of certain tax increment revenue; revise for 2013 only.
Testimony Only