Tales from Lansing
Interesting legislative action from the Michigan Capitol-
I don’t spend a lot of time calling representatives and senators, but I do try to keep an eye on the legislation being moved through the House and Senate in Lansing. In the last few months and weeks, several bills and resolutions have come up that I think are worth mentioning.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 31 was introduced by our own Sen. Ed McBroom(R) last September, previous to our elections. In it, McBroom disagreed with two court cases and supported the “duly enacted election laws that ensure the integrity and efficient administration of our elections.”
A Trump-appointed district judge struck down as unenforceable provisions in law prohibiting the paid transportation of voters to the polls, and limiting who may assist and absentee voter with their ballot. A judge appointed by former Gov. Jennifer Granholm issued an injunction extending the ballot receipt deadline by 14 days.
McBroom asserted in his resolution that allowing these things creates opportunities for political groups to engage in quid-pro-quo crimes and increase fraud and “diminish public confidence in election results.”
An amendment was offered by Sen. Jeff Irwin(D), to commit to the selection of Electoral College electors that would faithfully vote in accordance with the certified Michigan vote. The amendment was unanimously adopted, although the resolution itself never left the Committee on Elections and Ethics for a vote in the House.
At the time of the Senate vote, which succeeded 22-14 along party lines, the Senate Journal quoted Sen. Jeremy Moss(D) as saying that while the resolution is “fine enough” when taken by itself, but not when considering the history of voter disenfranchisement being struck down by the courts, including literacy tests, poll taxes and wealth requirements.
“…I’m not comfortable making a statement that state election law is infallible, because sadly that flies in the face of voters and their struggle to affirm their enfranchisement in this country,” Moss said.
Sen. Stephanie Chang(D) pointed out that thousands of votes were not tallied in the August 2020 election because they were rejected for being received too late, and that the court order McBroom took exception to was a prudent step in avoiding that happening on election day the following November.
“Do you really want to deny them their voting rights?” she asked.
McBroom said the idea that he sought to disenfranchise voters was “so profoundly insulting and derogatory towards the maker of this resolution that it’s almost insufferable.”
He went on to explain that extending the time to collect mail-in ballots was a slippery slope, and unnecessary in light of a voter’s “enormous amount of time” already allowed to collect the ballot, decide who to vote for, and get it in the mail or drive it to the clerk’s office.
“I mean, come on,” the Senate Journal quotes him as saying. “Seriously, how much time do you need?”
Federal appeals courts with majority Republican-appointed judges later reinstated the laws in October. One dissenting judge argued the Republican Legislature should not have been able to intervene in the cases as they did.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 37 was also introduced by McBroom, on Dec. 18, 2021.
The first paragraph reads:
A concurrent resolution to call for a continued commitment to investigating allegations of fraud and irregularities in our election, to considering and implementing reforms to improve our elections and audit processes, and to restoring citizens’ faith in the accuracy and integrity of elections in Michigan.
The resolutions quotes an uptick in absentee voting, testimony from concerned citizens, county clerks, and poll challengers, and allegations of “fraud and irregularities, such as deceased persons voting, mismatched signatures on absentee ballots, error-prone voting equipment and other things” demand a thorough investigations.
He additionally called for prosecution of the “propagation of rumors designed to create mistrust and deceive the public”.
The rule to send the resolution to committee was suspended, and the resolution passed the Senate 21-16 along strict party lines.
Sen. Sylvia Santana(D) and others strongly opposed the resolution and her comments were recorded in the Senate Journal(page 81).
“…this resolution is not worth the paper it’s written on and truly is a waste of taxpayer’s resources,” she said, in part. “The real problem is not that there was fraud—it’s the lack of this body to take action and give our clerks the proper tools to perform their jobs.”
Santana pointed out that the opportunity to recount ballots was not exercised in 2020 “so I ask the question, why are you trying to play these shenanigans?”, and thanked Michigan clerks for their integrity before ending her statement.
McBroom responded that he was truly trying to ensure integrity and faith in elections. McBroom has corrected some false claims in hearings he presided over in his role as the chair of the Senate Oversight Committee. However, he also allowed hours of rehashed assertions about court-rejected and debunked allegations.
On Dec. 3, 2020, McBroom was part of a group of senators that introduced Senate Bill 1253. This bill, had it not been vetoed, would have limited the epidemic orders from the Department of Health and Human Services to 28 days without extensions from the legislature.
Democrats in the House and Senate both tried introducing amendments that would have weakened the bill, but the amendments failed each time. The bill passed the Senate 22-16 along party lines, and passed the House 59-44, with mostly Republican support, but some Democrats, including Rep. Sara Cambensy(D), who represents the Marquette area.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed the bill on Dec. 30.
Cambensy has recently crossed the aisle to support several other Republican sponsored bills as well. Notably House Bills 4047 and 4048.
These bills surround coronavirus relief, primarily. HB 4047 appropriates $393.5 million in state tax dollars to give breaks to business impacted by lockdowns including restaurants and bars, exercise and recreation facilities and entertainment venues.
It passed the House on Feb. 4 with mostly Republican support, 60-49, and has been sent to the Senate.
Cambensy voted in favor of HB 4048, but not 4049, which it is tie-barred to. This means they can only be enacted together.
HB 4048 allocates the $1.8 billion in federal aid to schools. It passed the House 58-52.
HB 4049 strips the MDHHS director of the authority to close schools or restrict school sporting events, and give the authority to local health departments instead. It passed the house 57-52, with no Democrats in support, and a single Republican joining them in opposition.
House Republicans have also passed House Bill 4019, which will appropriate about a quarter of the new federal relief money.
House Democrats have introduced their own federal coronavirus relief money approprations bill in House Bill 4039, which would immediately authorize $3.661 billion in federal aid for unemployment payments and vaccine distribution, as well as millions in state spending to bolster other aid, including for businesses. It was referred to the House Appropriations committee, and was motioned to be discharged from that committee for a vote by Rep. Yousef Rabhi(D) on Feb. 4.
A large group of Democrats recently proposed House Bill 4023, which would expand gun-free zones to include all buildings owned or leased by the state of Michigan. The bill has been referred to the House Committee on Government Operations, chaired by Mike Mueller(R).
A few Democrats in the Senate also proposed Senate Bill 34 and 35. SB 34 prohibits the possession of a firearm on the premises of the state capitol. SB 35 only prohibits concealed firearms. Both bills were forwarded to the Committee on Government Operations without seeing a vote.
On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Gary Eisen has introduced a suite of bills to reduce prohibitions of firearms.
House Bills 4010, 4011 and 4012 reduce the penalties for the first offense of carrying a pistol into a gun-free zone, particularly for a qualified concealed pistol instructor. None of the bills has received a vote.
Perhaps Eisen’s most disturbing bill is House Bill 4006, which would exempt elected officials from gun-free zone restrictions, and the exemption would remain for a year after leaving office. This bill has been referred to the Committee on the Judiciary and hasn’t received a vote.