Nine Bills Passed In Lame Duck Were Never Sent To The Governor; Including H.B. 6058

The Democrats went on a legislative spree in lame duck after it became clear that they had lost control of the State House on November 5th and the Trifecta was about to end.  Gongwer News Service is reporting that 98 bills which passed both the House and Senate during the second session of the 102nd Legislature were never submitted to the Governor for signature. The Detroit Free Press is reporting that 9 bills passed in lame duck, after the election, were not sent to the Governor for signature.

H.B. 6058, the Publicly Funded Health Insurance Contribution Act, is one of the nine bills.  It appears to be void because the House did not have a quorum on December 31st, when they ordered it enrolled.  There are very few valid actions a legislative body can take without a quorum.  Ordering an act enrolled is not one of the four permissible acts without a quorum.  Evidently, the Democrats have little background in rules of order, or else they just don't care:

https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2025/01/14/michigan-democrats-passed-bills-not-sent-to-whitmer/77690295007/

9 bills passed by Democrats haven't been sent to Whitmer, GOP Speaker calls for review
BY Arpan Lobo - January 14, 2025

Nine bills passed in the final days of the Democrats' control of the Michigan Legislature last year have not yet been presented to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for signature, triggering newly-elected House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, to call for a legal review to determine how to handle the legislation left over from when Democrats controlled the chamber.

Without presentation to Whitmer, the bills, which include increasing public employer contributions to employees' health care costs, allowing corrections officers and other law enforcement personnel to opt in to the Michigan State Police retirement programs and exempting certain public assistance benefits from debt collection, are stalled.

Michigan's constitution states in order to become a law, a bill must be passed by both chambers, and then be presented to the governor's office for consideration. The governor then has 14 days to decide whether to sign the bill.

Hall, who became speaker last week after Republicans took control of the House in the November election, said he wasn't aware of any precedent of a previous Legislature not presenting bills to the governor's office. The lame duck period of Democrats' control of the House ended abruptly Dec. 19, after the entire Republican caucus and one Democrat did not attend session, leaving the House short of the needed quorum to vote on legislation.

After the House adjourned, the Senate voted on scores of House-passed bills during a marathon session, but not all of the bills passed by the Senate were presented to Whitmer's office. Both the House and Senate adjourned "sine die" or "without day" on Dec. 30, ending the legislative session.

“When I leave the office of Speaker someday, I’m going to make sure that every bill that is passed under my speakership is going to get presented to the governor before I leave. That’s a lesson that I just learned," Hall said Thursday during a roundtable with reporters in Lansing.

House Democrats have criticized Hall, arguing since the bills had passed both chambers, their presentation to Whitmer is just a formality. The caucus, in a statement Monday, said not presenting the bills would prevent relief for public employees and working families.

"House Republicans have a constitutional obligation to present these bills to the Governor for her review and signature," a joint statement attributed to House Democrats said. "Instead, they are choosing to exploit hard working Michiganders who are trying to provide for their families because they care more about playing political games and delivering wins to their wealthy stakeholders."

Whitmer, speaking to reporters Monday in Detroit, said she expects the bills to "shortly" arrive at her desk.

“You know, I’m not going to pre-judge what is happening with the bills," she said, after signing bills establishing research and development tax credits and a new fund for startup businesses in Michigan.

"I know that Speaker Hall has said they’re doing a legal review. That’s in his purview. He’s now the Speaker of the House and we’ll continue to wait and expect those bills will get presented shortly I would imagine.”

It's unclear how long the legal review may take. During the reporter roundtable, Hall said he was unsure whether a new Legislature can present bills passed by a previous one.

"I don’t like to rush. I stopped, I said we need a legal review, we need to look at this very carefully, understand the legal ramifications and we’ll make a decision after that," he said.

The nine bills that have not yet been presented to Whitmer cover various policy areas:

Health care cost limits for public employees

House Bill 6058, would require public employers, including public school districts and local governments, to pay at least 80% of employee health care costs. When the bill was taken up in the Senate, Republicans said the bill will drive up costs that will be passed along to taxpayers.

Bill sponsor state Rep. Mai Xiong, D-Warren, said in a statement last week the bill would provide relief from health care costs for public sector employees.

Retirement options for correction officers

House Bills 4665, 4666 and 4667 would allow corrections officers, conservation officers and certain other law enforcement officers to participate in the Michigan State Police retirement system. During the legislative process, backers of the bills described them as important measures to improve hiring and retention of corrections officers. Republican senators who voted against the bills expressed concerns about adding risk to the MSP pension system.

Keeping public assistance from debt collection

House Bills 4900 and 4901 would prohibit the garnishment, or the process of collecting debt repayment, through collection of certain public-assistance benefits, including unemployment insurance, federal and state earned income tax credits, disability benefits, workers' compensation benefits or any other means-tested public benefit.

Millage options for Detroit museums

Finally, House Bills 4177, 5817 and 5818 would allow Detroit's Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Detroit Historical Society to create an authority to ask voters to levy a maximum 0.2-mill tax for up to 10 years. Leaders for the museums have said additional funding is needed for repairs and to cover operating costs.

The bills would allow Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties to place millage proposals on their ballots. Republicans have criticized the legislation and have argued residents should not have to foot the bill for the museums' repairs.