Michigan Senate sues to force House to send legislation to Whitmer

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    The Michigan Senate authorized the majority leader to sue the Michigan House over its decision to pause the transfer of nine bills passed by both chambers last session
    
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    The bills only need to be signed by the governor, but the new Republican leadership ordered their transfer be paused
    
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    They deal primarily with the creation of a new history museum authority, limits on paying into medical benefit plans, and debt collection
    

• 
  The Michigan Senate authorized the majority leader to sue the Michigan House over its decision to pause the transfer of nine bills passed by both chambers last session
  
• 
  The bills only need to be signed by the governor, but the new Republican leadership ordered their transfer be paused
  
• 
  They deal primarily with the creation of a new history museum authority, limits on paying into medical benefit plans, and debt collection
  

(FOX 2):In an attempt to compel lawmakers to forward nine measures to the governor for signature, Democrats in the Michigan Senate are suing the Michigan House of Representatives.

Before the 2024 session concluded in December, the legislation had already cleared both chambers, but the Republican House Speaker has ordered that their transfer to Gretchen Whitmer’s desk be put on hold.

This is the most recent event after state Democrats’ control of the chamber was abruptly ended last year during a lame duck session in which numerous proposals were killed before they could be passed.

We know:

Sen. Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids), the majority leader, was given permission by Michigan Democratic Senators on Wednesday to sue the Michigan House of Representatives.

It aims to “compel the House of Representatives to fulfill its constitutional duty” by sending nine bills to the governor for her signature.

The House clerk was earlier instructed to halt the bill transfer by Representative Matt Hall (R-Highland Township).

From the Senate chamber floor on Wednesday, Brinks stated that Democrats would not put up with “partisan games.”

The following laws are presently pending:

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  HB 4177
  
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  HB 4665-4667
  
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  HB 4900-4901
  
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  HB 5817-5818
  
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  HB 6058
  

What is unknown to us:

Why the bills weren’t transferred in the first place is unknown.

Intra-party strife during the Democratic Party’s term in the Michigan House prevented scores of proposals of legislation from receiving a final vote.

It’s also unclear how long it might take and why the current House Speaker demanded a legal review of the legislation that has already been enacted.

Look more closely:

The creation of a History Museum Authority, changes to the State Police Retirement Act, changes to the kinds of salaries exempt from debt collection, and the amount that public employers can contribute to medical benefit plans are among the bills that are pending Whitmer’s signature—or veto.

• The Michigan Legislature provided the information for this report.

The Michigan Legislature provided the information for this report.