Michigan Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) speaks to reporters in Lansing following Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s State of the State address on Jan. 24, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Roth)
As they had threatened last week to do, Michigan Senate Democrats have filed a lawsuit seeking to force House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.) to send nine already-passed bills to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her signature.
The suit was filed Monday in the Michigan Court of Claims by the Michigan Senate and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) and names Hall, along with House Clerk Scott Starr and the Michigan House of Representatives.
Brinks, speaking to reporters Monday at a virtual press conference, said Hall’s refusal to follow the law had left her no other choice.
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“Although nine bills have been passed by both chambers of the Michigan Legislature, Speaker Hall is refusing to send them to the governor, and in so doing, he has failed us,” said Brinks. “He has failed his constituents. He has failed Michigan teachers, firefighters, law enforcement and corrections officers. He has failed to fulfill his responsibilities as an elected official. He has failed to abide by our state constitution, and he has failed to act despite our warnings of legal action.”
The legislation in question was passed during a tumultuous — and largely unproductive — lame duck session late last year when Democrats still had majorities in both chambers — before Republicans took control of the House on Jan. 1 following their victory in the November election. However, the bills were sent to Whitmer’s office by outgoing House Democrats, who have yet to articulate why they failed to follow through.
The nine bills cover a variety of issues that include providing additional funding support to museums owned by the city of Detroit, increasing the amount public employers must pay towards employees’ health insurance and extending eligibility for the State Police Retirement System to individuals in jobs related to law enforcement, including corrections officers and conservation officers.
Hall previously told reporters there was no definite timeline for when the bills had to be submitted to the governor, which Brinks said was not true.
“Speaker Hall’s blatant evasion of the state law and his oath are unacceptable and unlawful,” she said. “The [Michigan] Constitution makes it abundantly clear; every bill passed by the Legislature is required to be presented to the governor, and to make myself abundantly clear, no one, especially an elected public servant in legislative leadership, is above the law.”
The dispute centers on the interpretation of Article IV Section 33 of the Michigan Constitution, which states: “Every bill passed by the legislature shall be presented to the governor before it becomes law, and the governor shall have 14 days measured in hours and minutes from the time of presentation in which to consider it.”
The lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of Brinks and the Senate by longtime election attorney and former Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer, asserts that while no specific procedure is laid out in the constitution to transmit the bills, that doesn’t mean there aren’t time-sensitive issues at play.
“Unless given immediate effect, laws take effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns,” wrote Brewer. “None of the nine bills were given immediate effect, so if signed by the governor, they will take effect on April 2, 2025, which is fast approaching.”
Brewer said other events must occur before the bills can become effective, including a 14-day window for the governor to consider the bills. However, with appeals expected in the matter, “immediate and expedited consideration” is needed to resolve the appeals and allow Whitmer her constitutionally mandated consideration period.
Brinks said Hall’s refusal to follow the law was a case of “gamesmanship” that not only disrespected the sanctity of Michigan’s Constitution, but was also “an outright disservice to the residents of Michigan, the very people he was elected to represent.”
Hall spokesperson Greg Manz said that the speaker is still reviewing the matter, calling it an “unprecedented situation.”
“Speaker Hall is carrying out a thorough, comprehensive legal review of an entirely unprecedented situation to ensure the House acts constitutionally. Sadly, Senator Brinks’ inaction on tipped wage and earned sick time legislation is jeopardizing 50,000 family-sustaining jobs — she hasn’t even read the bills into committee two weeks after they passed the House. She should be focused on helping those people in need, not rushing to the courts,” Manz told the Michigan Advance.
When asked about the Feb. 21 deadline for changes to the state’s tipped wage and earned sick time laws to take effect, Brinks said that issue was being actively considered.
“We certainly have had a lot of conversations around these bills. You’ve seen the House move some bills. We have bills introduced. We will continue to have those conversations. We are hearing, of course, from stakeholders on all sides of the issue. Those conversations continue. There’s more on that to come,” she said.
Sen. Kevin Hertel (D-St. Clair Shores) said one of the approved bills being held up, HB 6058, amends the Publicly Funded Health Insurance Contribution Act, passed during Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s term, that avoids a health care premium spike being faced by public employees, including teachers, by increasing the amount that public employers may pay toward employees’ medical benefit plans.
“Now I know that maybe this wasn’t made clear in Schoolhouse Rock, but it is very clear in our constitution that when a bill passes both chambers of the Legislature, it shall be presented to the governor for a signature,” said Hertel. “Unfortunately, we now have Speaker Matt Hall and the House Republicans, not only disregarding the Michigan Constitution, but they are intentionally choosing to block this legislation and harm thousands of public workers and their families across the state of Michigan.”
One of the teachers impacted by the legislation, Kim Sandefur from Comstock, also spoke to reporters, saying the profession is struggling to recruit and retain highly-qualified teachers and making them choose between health care and the job they love wasn’t right.
“Speaker Matt Hall’s inaction to send this and other bills to the governor’s desk is inexcusable. Playing party politics with people’s health care and income is deplorable,” said Sandefur. “No one has ever gone into education to get rich, but the rewards through student outcomes and decent benefits have always helped to offset the pay.”
Sen. John Cherry (D-Flint), chair of the Senate Labor Committee, noted the testimony heard during a special committee hearing he held last week on the impacts they were facing with the holding up of the legislation.
“We heard from a firefighter from Macomb County; motor carrier officer from Mt. Pleasant; teachers from Richmond, Lansing and Troy; a bus driver from Saginaw; and a corrections officer from Jackson,” said Cherry. “But there was a common theme. They’re all struggling and they are asking for help, and they all see a solution in the bills we already passed and that Speaker Hall is holding up.”
When pressed on why the bills had failed to be transmitted to the governor by House Democrats when they were still in charge, Brinks told reporters that wasn’t the point.
“The constitution is very clear that these bills shall be presented, so my concern is that we follow the constitution and that we get those to the governor’s desk,” she said. “So regardless of who was there before, the person with the power to do that now are the current clerk and the current speaker.”
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