Pandemic Linked To Spike In Missed Votes By Michigan Legislators
Increase appears modest, given the circumstances
State Sen. Adam Hollier, a Democrat from Detroit, and State Rep. Steve Marino, a Republican from Harrison Township, led the Michigan Legislature in the number of missed roll call votes in 2020.
Hollier missed 102 roll call votes out of a total of 1,002 that were held during the year. Republican Sen. Peter Lucido of Shelby Township had the second-most missed votes in the Senate, with 57.
In the House, Marino missed 303 votes out of 1,027 votes held in 2020. Democrat Rep. Kristy Pagan of Canton Township missed the second most at 301.
Hollier and Marino didn’t return messages seeking an explanation for why they missed so many votes. The total numbers were higher than recent years, but not dramatically so. Some legislators missed votes because they spent time in quarantine.
All told, Michigan’s 38 state senators and 110 representatives missed 3,072 roll call votes in 2020, according to a report put out by MichiganVotes.org, a legislative voting record tool maintained by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. In 2019 the total missed votes figure was 768.
During the full two-year terms of the previous three Michigan legislatures, lawmakers missed a total of 3,641, 2,283 and 2,789 votes, respectively. The recently concluded 100th Michigan Legislature saw its members miss a total of 3,840 votes.
Hollier is an U.S. Army Reserve officer, according to Shorlinemedia.net, which attributed 51 of his missed votes to military duty.
The Macomb Daily reported that Marino said health issues were the reason he missed so many votes.
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.