The most controversial bills in Michigan's lame duck legislature

[catbyte]

Despicable. Anti-American. Evil. It's the last, desperate attempt to ruin our state. they know they will probably never be in power again, or at least in the foreseeable future now that gerrymandering will be eliminated.

The most controversial bills in Michigan's lame duck legislature

Paul Egan and Kathleen Gray, Detroit Free Press Published 8:04 a.m. ET Dec. 4, 2018

LANSING — It's "lame duck" time in the Michigan Legislature — the period between an election and the end of lawmakers' terms, when a raft of controversial bills get taken up.

snip

Below is a look at some of the most controversial bills. Check back daily to see their status:

Marijuana legalization

Senate Bill 1243: The bill would ban home-grown marijuana and make other changes to the ballot proposal legalizing marijuana for recreational use, which Michigan voters approved, 56 percent to 44 percent, on Nov. 6. The bill would lower the excise tax on retail sales of weed from 10 percent to 3 percent and change how the tax revenue is distributed.

snip

GOP senators cash in

Senate Bill 1022: The bill would allow senators who earlier ran for the House to transfer surplus funds from their Senate campaign committees to their inactive and cash-poor House committees, in order to pay off old debts.

snip

Keeping dark money dark

Senate Bill 1176: The bill would bar state agencies, including the Attorney General's Office and the Secretary of State's office, from requiring nonprofits, which are frequently used to pay for political "issue ads," to disclose information about donors, volunteers or members.

snip

Minimum wage hike

Senate bill 1171: The bill would raise the minimum wage from $9.25 currently to $12 per hour by 2030 and take away cost-of-living adjustments.

snip

Paid sick leave

Senate bill 1175: The bill requires employers to provide one hour of paid sick time for every 40 hours worked and exempts employers with 50 or fewer employees. It departs from a citizen-initiated bill already adopted by the Legislature after organizers turned in more than 350,000 signatures.

snip

Enbridge Line 5 tunnel

Senate Bill 1197: The bill would amend the Mackinac Bridge Authority's legislation to take on oversight responsibilities for a proposed tunnel that Canadian energy company Enbridge would construct beneath the Straits of Mackinac to house the Line 5 oil pipeline.

snip

Abortion telemedicine

Senate Bill 1198: Would extend the ban on doctors providing abortion-inducing drugs to patients over the phone or through a video conference call. The ban was supposed to expire on Dec. 31.

Reducing wetlands protections

Senate Bill 1211: The bill would redefine which wetlands require Department of Environmental Quality permission to modify or fill, doubling the size threshold at which regulation is required, from 5 acres to 10 acres.

snip

Michigan voter access

Senate bills 1238-1240: Would alter the Promote the Vote ballot proposal passed by voters by 67-33 percent, changing a provision that allows a person to register to vote up to the day of the election and push that deadline to 14 days before the election.

snip

Anti-gerrymandering

Senate bill 1254:Would alter the Voters Not Politicians constitutional amendment ballot proposal, which voters passed by 61-39 percent to change the way state and federal legislative district lines are drawn, to impose a $500 fine for people who want to become a member of the 13-person redistricting commission if they mischaracterize their political affiliation and prohibit a person affiliated with any political party to provide consulting services to the commission.

snip

Changing campaign finance oversight

Senate Bill 1252: The bill would shift oversight of campaign finance law from the secretary of state to a six-person bipartisan commission appointed by the governor.

snip

More influence for Legislature in court cases

House Bill 6553: The bill would allow the state House of Representatives and Senate to intervene in any legal proceedings involving the state, which has traditionally been the purview of the state attorney general or the governor’s office.

snip

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/12/04/michigan-legislature-bills-lame-duck-session/2162560002/

[dragonlady]

1. Same technique as in Wisconsin, some different topics

The Wisconsin Republicans are also pushing the final item in your list, to take power away from the Attorney General and give it to private attorneys hired by the legislature at taxpayer expense. Breathtaking chutzpah.