The Senate’s 29-hour long session saw more than 90 bills passed through third reading and ended with the announcement that the chamber will adjourn sine die on Monday, Dec. 30.
The marathon session, spanning 10 a.m. Thursday until 3 p.m. Friday, was cheered on by House Democrats who were unable to establish a quorum in their own chamber this week, thus preventing them from passing a single bill since last Friday.
The session was the longest legislative session since the House’s prolonged income tax vote in 2007. Half the bills the Senate passed moved on party-line, 20-18 votes. A total of 13 were unanimous.
Along the way, Republicans were not encouraging swift passage of the bills. They offered several amendments, made numerous statements and even had several bills read in their entirety. Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton) spoke against nearly every bill, slowing the pace of the session to a slow, methodical walk.
Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids)’s message to the House of Representatives evolved after session Friday from last night’s expression of disappointment to this morning’s sentiment that the work she does is always unpredictable.
“Every day I get up and come to work and I do the best I can with what I’ve got, and that’s something I learned from my mom growing up, and it served me very well,” Brinks said, later adding “Sometimes the reality is: we come up short when it comes to counting 20 votes here or 56 over in the House or getting the governor’s signature.”
Brinks said 247 Senate bills were at the House’s disposal to approve and send on to the governor.
“I wouldn’t say that,” said Brinks when asked if she thinks it will be easier to work with a Republican House majority than it was to work with the chamber’s Democratic leadership in recent weeks.
Brinks said the Legislature will be exploring big ideas with bipartisan support, such as a long-term solution for road funding, a conversation that started in the final push of 2024. She says she’s willing to work with anyone that will work productively and honestly toward solutions.
“I am eager to forge positive and productive relationships with all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle,” Brinks said. At one point in the final hours of the session, she and House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) were seen talking on the Senate floor.
Two bills, HB 4605 and HB 4606 which allocate 1.5% of the 4% sales tax rate to the Public Safety and Violence Prevention Fund were taken up Friday and had changes adopted that would require concurrence votes in the House that can’t be taken up since the House has no scheduled voting days left.
The technical changes needed to be addressed, and it was either “sign now, fix later” or re-introduce the legislation in a future term.
Sen. Thomas Albert (R-Lowell) said that caveat could either be an attempt to get the House to reconvene or it was an attempt to kill the legislation altogether.
Due to the benefit the fund could have for Detroit, the adoption of the changes begs the question, whether Rep. Karen Whitsett (D-Detroit)’s absence and Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit)’s inability to establish a quorum this week contributed to the decision to adopt the substitute, functionally torpedoing the legislation.
Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) gave the following explanation for her amendment on HB 4606 : “The substitute that was adopted on HB 4605 and the one that will be adopted on HB 4606 incorporate the changes that all parties agreed to, including the Governor’s office. I am pleased that the Michigan Senate has voted to move the Public Safety Trust Fund bills forward to invest needed dollars in effective public safety and community violence intervention programs.”
Brinks said she and the Governor’s office worked closely to take what the House approved and turn it into policy that could get signed into law. She said she’s hopeful there’s “something that the House can do with that before the end of the year,” and if not, the Senate will have done its job to make the legislation what it needed to be.
It’s worth noting that since the House is the entity that can’t make the governor’s requested changes, this shields the upper chamber and governor from taking the blame for legislation dying.
The $105M Michigan Innovation Fund, one of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s big asks to be delivered to her desk if legislative leaders wanted bills signed, would be created under
HB 5651, HB 5652, HB 5653 and HB 5654. They passed the Senate Friday along with the R&D tax credits, which passed 20-18 early this morning.
Nesbitt thrashed Democrats for “more corporate giveaways” while working families are struggling.
“This is some of the largest, most profitable companies in the nation,” Nesbitt said. “After $2 billion of corporate welfare, the majority Democratic Party (continues) to shove it down our throats, saying ‘More giveaways, more corporate welfare, more businesses being bailed out.’ The hypocrisy that we see from the majority Democratic Party is appalling.”
In her statement post adjournment, Whitmer didn’t address anything that passed or died in lame duck. She referenced the expansion of the income tax exemptions for seniors, the expanded earned income tax credit, education investment, free K-12 breakfast and lunch and housing affordability.
“I thank our colleagues in the legislature for their efforts on behalf of their fellow Michiganders and look forward to working alongside the incoming House,” Whitmer said. “I will continue to work with anyone who is serious about getting things done.”
Nesbitt said he sees a lot of failures that Democrats are trying to cover up with paper mâché, such as not reaching a deal on tipped wages, paid sick leave and roads before the House Republicans took back the gavel. Instead, Nesbitt said, Democrats bowed down to “the more powerful interests instead of the working people around the state.”
When asked what his relationship is with the Governor right now, Nesbitt said he thought they were making good progress until House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) and Brinks “blew up any possibility of getting a deal done” on certain legislation.
“It seemed that Speaker Tate couldn’t keep his word and the Senate Majority Leader had other issues to worry about on their progressive agenda,” Nesbitt said.
The Senate will reconvene 11:30 a.m. Monday, Dec. 30, at which point it will adjourn sine die.
Article courtesy MIRS News for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter
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