Michigan’s legislature returns from Thanksgiving break today to begin this year’s lame duck session. Click HERE to review the ten most important issues on SBAM’s radar.
House Democrats conceded Wednesday they will be working with minority Republicans during lame duck session as attendance issues have surfaced within the majority caucus. The news comes as the office of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reports that meetings have been scheduled to talk about economic development and roads with leaders of both caucuses, including House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richland Township).
MIRS has learned a Democratic House member has alerted leadership that a health issue will prevent her from attending session for at least the first week. A call to the member and the member’s office failed to provide clarification regarding her potential availability during lame duck.
The member told MIRS she was unavailable and ended the phone call.
The issue of attendance during lame duck is critical, given the Democrats’ slim 56-54 majority in the House. The absence of one more Democratic member would prevent a bill from passing on only party-line votes.
Another wrinkle in the fabric is some conferences that are taking place in December, starting with the National Black Caucus of State Legislators in Washington D.C., which is scheduled to meet Dec. 2-7. House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) is listed as a featured guest for a Wednesday afternoon plenary session. However, House Democratic spokesperson Jess Travers said the Speaker will be attending that event virtually and plans to be in Lansing for session that day.
Whether others attend the conference, which has seen participation from Michigan legislators in the past, is in question, but legislative leaders are urging their members to stay in Lansing.
The same is true for another conference, the State Innovation Exchange (SiX), a progressive policy group that’s active in Michigan, which is holding its first national conference Dec. 11-13 in Atlanta, Ga. While none of Michigan’s state legislators are listed as speakers, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Director Tim Boring and Michigan SiX Director Tom Lenard have slots on the schedule.
“We expect every member to participate in session as long as they’re physically able to be there,” said House Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash (D-Hamtramck). “We are not making exceptions for conferences.”
Sen. Erika Geiss (D-Taylor), chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, said she is urging “members to make wise choices, taking into account that these conferences overlap with lame duck. What they do with that and where they believe they need to be is entirely up to them.”
However, the health issue of at least one member has Democrats conceding that working with House Republicans for at least the first week of lame duck (if not more) will be necessary, a source tells MIRS.
Travers said the House will be in session as scheduled, voting all three days, but will need Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richland Township)’s help to pass legislation. At this point, the Democratic caucus is “still hopeful” about its attendance, and Travers didn’t comment on specifics challenging her confidence or which days will see attendance issues.
Meanwhile, following up on a report from Tuesday night, the governor’s office confirmed Wednesday morning that the governor has meetings scheduled with leaders of both parties after the legislature returns from Thanksgiving break.
“The governor met with legislative leaders during their last week of session prior to the legislature’s hunting break,” said Whitmer Communications Director Bobby Leddy. “As the governor has said repeatedly, she looks forward to working with both parties in lame duck on legislation to expand economic development tools and fix the roads.”
The updates come as House and Senate members combined to introduce 295 bills in the month of November, more than twice as many as in 2022 (99) and more than 2020 (168), 2018 (217) and 2016 (110). Numerous interest groups are pushing to get their priorities through during the three-week window.
Article courtesy MIRS News for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter
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