The House and Senate met this week to elect officers and adopt rules, but took no votes on legislation. Because there were no votes, this report instead contains several newly introduced bills of interest.

House Joint Resolution C (Extend term limits)
Introduced by Rep. Sharon Tyler (R), to place before voters in the next general election a Constitutional amendment to revise the term limits on legislators. Currently, representatives may only serve three terms of two-years each, and senators may only serve two terms of four-years each. The bill would allow legislators to mix-and-match these House and Senate terms in any combination for a total of not more than 14 years in the legislature. The measure is cosponsored by Reps. Greg MacMaster, Peter MacGregor, Al Pscholka, Matt Lori, Kevin Cotter, Kenneth Kurtz, Mike Shirkey, Mike Callton, Ken Yonker, Gail Haines, Hugh D. Crawford, Kurt Damrow, and Wayne A. Schmidt, all Republicans. Referred to committee, no further action at this time.

House Bill 4001 (Repeal Business Tax surcharge)
Introduced by Rep. Kurt Heise (R), to repeal the 21.99 percent Michigan Business Tax surcharge imposed on businesses as part of a $1.4 billion tax hike passed in 2007. Referred to committee, no further action at this time.

House Bill 4003 (Ban “stealth" unionization of independent contractors)
Introduced by Rep. Paul Opsommer (R) on January 13, 2011, to establish that a person whose private employment compensation comes from a direct or indirect government subsidy is not considered a government employee, and so is not subject be being inducted into a government employee union. This would apply to the home day care providers who are the subject of a Mackinac Center lawsuit. Referred to committee, no further action at this time.

House Bill 4008 (Allow helmetless motorcycle operation)
Introduced by Rep. Richard LeBlanc (D), to repeal the mandatory motorcycle helmet requirement for a motorcycle operator who purchases extra insurance with $20,000 personal injury coverage. Referred to committee, no further action at this time.

2011 House Bill 4009 (Repeal concealed pistol “gun-free zone” provision)
Introduced by Rep. Richard LeBlanc (D), to repeal the “gun-free zone” provision of the concealed pistol permit law, which prohibits those who have received a permit after meeting the background check and training requirements, from carrying a pistol in schools, day care facilities, sports stadiums or arenas, bars, bar/restaurants, places of worship, college dorms and classrooms, hospitals, casinos, entertainment facilities that hold more than 2,500, and courts. Referred to committee, no further action at this time.

House Bill 4019 (Eliminate charter school cap)
Introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin (R), to eliminate the cap on the number of charter schools chartered by state universities. The current cap is 150 schools. Referred to committee, no further action at this time.

House Bill 4020 (Create government loan guarantee program for some businesses)
Introduced by Rep. Mark Ouimet (R), to authorize state loan guarantees for new bank loans of up to $750,000 to small businesses (less than 250 employees and $6 million in gross sales). Referred to committee, no further action at this time.

House Bill 4035 (Authorize state government debt for "light rail" projects)
Introduced by Rep. Wayne Schmidt (R) on January 13, 2011, to authorize up to $100 million in state borrowing and additional debt (“selling bonds”) to build a new “fixed-guideway transit” system and other rail projects. Referred to committee, no further action at this time.

House Bill 4050 (Ban health care “individual mandate”)
Introduced by Rep. Tom McMillin (R), to place in statute a prohibition on any state law or agency rule that would directly or indirectly “compel any person, employer, or health care provider to participate in any health care system.” Unlike recent proposals that would place this in the Constitution, a majority of the legislature could amend or repeal this statutory ban with the governor’s signature. However, also unlike a constitutional amendment, a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate is not required to place this prohibition in law. Referred to committee, no further action at this time.