Every week, MichiganVotes.org sends a report to newspapers and TV stations showing how just the state legislators in each publication's service area voted on the most important and interesting bills and amendments of the past seven days. The version shown here instead contains a link to the complete roll call tally in either the House or Senate. To find out who your state senator is and how to contact him or her go here; for state representatives go here.
Senate Bill 1267, Impose .875-cent gas tax extension and
"fund raid," passed in the Senate (37 to 0)
To continue to impose
a .875-cent-per-gallon gasoline and refined petroleum tax scheduled to expire
on Dec. 31, 2010. The tax was originally imposed to clean up leaking
underground fuel tanks, but was diverted to other government spending following
a 2004 "fund raid" enacted to avoid state spending cuts and reforms. The bill
would extend the tax through 2012.
House Bill 5888, 2011 State Police budget, passed in the Senate
(35 to 2)
The House-Senate conference report for the 2010-2011 State Police budget. This
would appropriate $529.3 million in gross spending, compared to $527.3 million
this year. The budget also includes $5 million from a "fund raid" on
a cell phone and land-line tax intended to pay for local 911 services (see
House Bill 5599 below).
House Bill 5888, 2011 State Police budget, passed in the
House (107 to 0)
The House-Senate
conference report for the 2010-2011 State Police budget. This would appropriate
$529.3 million in gross spending, compared to $527.3 million this year. The
budget also includes $5 million from a "fund raid" on a cell phone
and land-line tax intended to pay for local 911 services (see House Bill 5599
below).
House Bill 4837, Allow community college to grant certain
bachelors degree, passed in the House (55 to 49)
To allow community
colleges to grant bachelor degrees in nursing, cement technology, maritime
technology or culinary arts.
House Bill 6421, Let state take unclaimed property sooner,
passed in the House (60-43)
To let the state
government take any unclaimed property that falls under its control if the
owner does not claim it within three years. Under current law an owner has five
years before the government takes his or her property. This is one of the
one-time revenue sources proposed to avoid spending cuts and reforms in the
next fiscal year. The bill also appropriates $4.8 million for a public
awareness campaign. Note: Parts of this may be an unconstitutional taking under
a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a 1996 case.
House Bill 4098, Repeal "bad driver tax," passed in the
House (105 to 0)
To repeal most of the
"driver responsibility fees," except for ones on serious infractions like
drunk driving or violations causing injury or death. The fees would end in
2012; individuals with current "bad driver tax" liability could clear
their account by paying half the tax by the end of 2011. This tax was adopted
in 2003 to avoid spending cuts and reforms.
House Bill 5599, Authorize 9-1-1 phone tax "fund raid,"
passed in the House (63 to 44)
To take $7 million in
each of the next two fiscal years from telephone tax money levied to pay for
9-1-1 emergency phone service infrastructure, and use it instead to avoid
spending cuts and reforms. The infrastructure was completed several years ago,
but in 2008 the tax was extended through 2014 anyway. This phone tax revenue
was previously "raided" in 2004, and again in 2006.
SOURCE: MichiganVotes.org, a free, nonpartisan website created by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, providing concise, nonpartisan, plain-English descriptions of every bill and vote in the Michigan House and Senate. Please visit https://www.michiganvotes.org.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.