The Michigan Senate sent a flurry of bills to the governor as it met Thursday night and deep into Friday morning.
Thursday’s overnight session was likely the chamber’s last time voting on bills this year. The Senate votes followed a disappointing day for anyone hoping to see the Michigan House accomplish anything.
In the House, attendance issues among Republicans and one Democratic lawmaker prevented the chamber from reaching a quorum this week that would have allowed it to take up bills. In a surprise move, leadership adjourned session until New Year’s Eve after failing to bring missing members onto the House floor.
The decision effectively rendered every bill the Senate had sent over to the House in an overnight session a week ago, dead.
“I am deeply disappointed that the House of Representatives called it quits while so many great pieces of legislation were ready for the green light. Legislators are tasked with the responsibility of using every tool available to advocate for their constituents and communities, and ‘frustrated’ is too light of a word to describe my dismay that the House failed to meet its obligations in this historic moment,” Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) said in a press release.
Brinks and other Senate Democrats channeled their frustration into dozens of votes on bills the House did successfully send to their chamber. Here’s how a few of them broke down as of 7 a.m. Friday morning:
Health Care
Some of the bills now heading to Governor Gretchen Whitmer concern what health insurance should require.
There was legislation to improve health for new moms and their babies and having insurance cover mental health screenings. Other bills concerned access to hormonal contraception.
Lawmakers also voted to get rid of the state’s work requirements for Medicaid.
Economic Development
Senate lawmakers OK’d to a plan that would allow businesses to write off a portion of their research and development on their taxes. The policies had been long in the making but ran into trouble in the House earlier this year.
Supporters argued Michigan should join the rest of the Midwest in having an R&D tax credit, while opponents said it would be a case of “corporate welfare.”
Education
The Senate took up a handful of House bills concerning charter school management. One package would require schools to publicly display information about their operators. Another bill would have public school academies post salary information.
Senate bills meant to be part of the package that were before the House all but died when the House left Thursday.
The Senate also sent bills requiring schools to notify parents of Michigan’s safe storage gun laws to the governor.
Public Safety
A little after 1 a.m. Friday morning, Democratic Senate leadership discharged dozens of bills from their committees to set them up for votes.
One of those bills would require the state health department to facilitate access to community violence prevention services for people on Medicaid.
Other bills would let corrections workers join the Michigan State Police retirement system. Supporters say it would help address staffing shortages. Opponents say it would add more stress to an already overtaxed system.
As of 7 a.m., the Senate had not taken up votes on bills at the center of some of the House controversy. That includes a plan that would benefit the Detroit Public Schools Community District and another one to create a public safety and violence prevention fund.