In order to help make our state government more transparent and accessible to my constituents, each week that there is session I am going to post to my website a synopsis of the work each House committee will do for the week. This will include the time and location for the meeting as well as any bills or presentations the committee will hear. Each agenda item will include the bill number, the sponsor, and a brief summary of the legislation. If you would like to read in greater detail about any of these bills, you can read them in their full-text at www.legislature.mi.gov.
Please also note that you and your neighbors are welcome to observe any committee meeting or legislative session. Most House committee meetings are in the House Office Building (124 N. Capitol Avenue, Lansing, Michigan) but some convene in the Capitol across the street.
As your elected officials, it is our job to conduct legislative business with efficiency and transparency. I hope you find these posts helpful and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any additional questions or concerns.
Week of Sept. 22, 2014: Committee Meetings
Energy and Technology
Date Tuesday, Sept. 23
Time 9 a.m.
Location: Room 519, House Office Building
Agenda:
HB 5806 – (Rep. Pscholka) – Higher education; community colleges; term of installment contracts for energy conservation improvements allowed under statute; extend.
SB 910 – (Sen. Casperson) – Environmental protection; air pollution; wood heaters; prohibit department of environmental quality from promulgating certain rules or enforcing federal regulations.
SCR 14 – (Sen. Casperson) – A concurrent resolution to urge the United States Environmental Protection Agency to forgo its recent proposal to tighten emission limits on wood stoves.
Regulatory Reform
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 23
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Room 521, House Office Building
Agenda:
HB 5513 – (Rep. Schor) – Mobile homes; other; manufactured housing reforms; specify remedies for health and safety violations and provide other reforms.
HB 4935 – (Rep. Heise) – Liquor; licenses; penalties and licensing sanctions for critical violations; increase.
Transportation and Infrastructure
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 23
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Room 521, House Office Building
Agenda:
HB 5422 – (Rep. Lund) – Vehicles; registration; renewal deadline for vehicle registration; modify to provide a 120-day grace period.
HB 5714 – (Rep. McCready) – Transportation; carriers; motor carrier act; modify procedure for issuance of authority and other general revisions.
SB 882 – (Sen. Casperson) – Transportation; other; requirement of annual certification of employee-related conditions by local road agencies; repeal.
Health Policy
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 23
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Room 519, House Office Building
Agenda:
HB 5668 – (Rep. Lyons) – Health; emergency response; auto-injectable epinephrine; allow prescribers to prescribe and pharmacists to dispense to authorized entities under certain circumstances and limit liability.
Presentation on Maternal Mortality in Michigan
Dr. Sonia Hassan, Associate Dean for Maternal , Perinatal and Child Health, Wayne State University School of Medicine
Dr. Cheryl Gibson-Fountain, OB/GYN, Beaumont Health System
Dr. Matt Davis, Department of Community Health
Oversight
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 23
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Room 519, House Office Building
Agenda:
Testimony on the special education complaint process that is administered by the Michigan Department of Education.
- Marcie Lipsitt, Co-Chair Michigan Alliance for Special Education
- Mark McWilliams, Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service
- Michigan Department of Education
Natural Resources
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 23
Time: Noon
Location: Room 307, House Office Building
Agenda:
HB 5563 – (Rep. LaFontaine) – Environmental protection; solid waste; abandoned vehicle disposal process for watercraft, snowmobiles, and ORVs; establish.
HB 4401 – (Rep. Pettalia) – Natural resources; mining; inland lakes and streams permit requirement; exempt certain mining operations.
Tax Policy
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 24
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Room 519, House Office Building
Agenda:
HB 5616 – (Rep. Yonker) – Property tax; exemptions; real and personal property of a nonprofit charitable organization; modify exemptions.
HB 5665 – (Rep. Cotter) – Property tax; assessments; property transfer affidavit; impose confidentiality requirement on local tax collecting unit.
SB 831 – (Sen. Nofs) – Property tax; principal residence exemption; homestead exemption; prohibit increase upon death of homeowner under certain conditions.
Appropriations
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 24
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Room 352, House Appropriations, State Capitol Building
Agenda:
Legislative Transfer 2014-8
HB 5725 – (Rep. Haveman) – Property; conveyances; conveyance of surplus state-owned real estate; enact procedures for conveyance.
HB 4157 – (Rep. Poleski) – State financing and management; funds; information, communication, and technology innovation revolving fund; create.
Military and Veterans Affairs
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 24
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Room 308, House Office Building
Agenda:
HR 390 – (Rep. Zorn) – A resolution to urge the U.S. Department of Defense to provide toll-free calling to active duty military men and women serving overseas, so that they may call family members in the U.S. without cost.
HR 385 – (Rep. Graves) – A resolution to urge the United States Congress to investigate the United States Department of Veterans Affairs’ treatment of military veterans seeking health care at facilities throughout the country.
HB 5035 – (Rep. Goike) – Higher education; community colleges; questions to applicants concerning military experience of the applicant and the applicant’s parents or spouse; require.
HB 5036 – (Rep. Rendon) – Higher education; community colleges; acceptance of an American council on education transcript; allow, and clarify transferable credits.
HB 5751 – (Rep. Jacobsen) – Occupations; other; use of certain military experience as the basis for licensure; authorize for boiler installer, boiler repairer, and boiler special inspector.
Insurance
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 24
Time: 10:30 a.m.
Location: Room 308, House Office Building
Agenda:
HB 5636 – (Rep. Cotter) – Insurance; no-fault; operation of golf cart on public highway without requirement of no-fault insurance; allow.
HB 5792 – (Rep. Lund) – Insurance; insurers; notice of divesting or acquiring controlling interest in an insurer; require.
HB 5823 – (Rep. Lund) – Insurance; insurers; procedures for own risk and solvency assessment; provide for
Michigan Competitiveness
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 24
Time: Noon
Location: Room 521, House Office Building
Agenda:
HB 4148 – (Rep. Shirkey) – Higher education; community colleges; granting of baccalaureate degrees in certain fields; allow.
Agriculture
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 24
Time: 9 a.m.
Location: Room 519, House Office Building
Agenda:
SB 685 – (Sen. Booher) – Agriculture; weights and measures; date reference in handbook; revise to 2013.
Appropriations: Subcommittee on Joint Capital Outlay
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 24
Time: 3 p.m.
Location: Senate Appropriations, State Capitol
Agenda:
- Presentations on FY 2014-15 Capital Outlay Priority Project Requests — Bay de Noc Community College — Grand Valley State University — Kellogg Community College — Lake Michigan College — Lake Superior State University — Mid Michigan Community College — Northwestern Michigan College — Oakland University — Schoolcraft College — Washtenaw Community College — Western Michigan University
- MSU Bio-engineering Facility Project Scope Change
Financial Services
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 24
Time: Noon
Location: Room 326, House Office Building
Agenda:
HB 5794 – (Rep. Callton) – Civil procedure; foreclosure; property inspections during redemption period; correct procedural requirement.
HB 5795 – (Rep. Lyons) – Civil procedure; foreclosure; eligibility for right to redeem property; require interest to be recorded.
HR 395 – (Rep. McMillin) – A resolution to urge the Congress of the United States to direct the Comptroller General to complete a full audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the federal reserve banks.
Families, Children and Seniors
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 24
Time: Noon
Location: Room 519, House Office Building
HB 5741 – (Rep. Howrylak) – Human services; children’s services; interstate compact for the placement of children; revise.
HB 5825 – (Rep. Shirkey) – Children; adoption; option to disclose identity of paternity in a private adoption; allow.
SB 861 – (Sen. Richardville) – Children; other; provision regarding the disbursement of the children’s trust fund; modify.
SB 890 – (Sen. Caswell) – Human services; children’s services; support subsidy; rename, and provide for deferred determination of care agreements for certain adoptions.