Insider Intelligence

In the previous blog post we highlighted the policy events of the past two years.  In addition to the active session in terms of legislation, there were quite a few shake ups to the membership of the legislature.  Throughout the past two years, the legislature has lost seven members between the two chambers.  Former Senator […]

The legislature addressed many major issues in the 2015-2016 session.  Some they were able to complete and others an agreement was never struck amongst the caucuses and chambers.  In the past two years, the House introduced 2,113 bills, while the Senate introduced 1,192 bills.  Many of the bills never saw any movement, including committee hearings […]

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof (R-West Olive) announced the appointment of Craig Ryan as his new Chief of Staff.  Mr. Ryan currently serves as Deputy Chief and Legislative Director for the Majority Leader.  Prior to working in the Michigan Senate, he worked as Deputy Policy Director and Senior Policy Advisor in the Michigan […]

This week, House Majority Floor Leader-elect, Dan Lauwers (R-Brockway), released the session schedule for 2017.  The first session day of the new term will be held on Wednesday, January 11.  Beginning January 17 through June 22, the House will hold session Tuesday – Thursday, with the exception of their two-week spring break in the beginning […]

On Thursday, the Michigan House and Senate wrapped up their final session day for the 2015-2016 legislative term.  At the end of the month the legislature will adjourn sine die.  At that time, all legislation will die, except those bills that have already been passed by both chambers and are awaiting final consideration from Governor […]

This week, the Senate passed a package of legislation amending Michigan’s speed limit laws.  Most notably, the bill would increase the speed limit on certain freeways from 70 mph to 75 mph and would increase some trunk line highways from 55 mph to 65 mph.  The bills were amended from their House-passed version and have […]

This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported three bills reforming pension plans for newly hired teachers.  The legislation would place school employees hired after July 1, 2017, into a 401k plan.  In the new plan, 4% of employee’s salary would go into the 401k, plus there would be an employer match of up to 3% […]

For the remainder of the legislative term, Speaker Kevin Cotter (R-Mount Pleasant) has made replacement committee assignments to fill the committee vacancies created by the resignation of former Representative Kurt Heise (R-Plymouth Township).  Below are the new assignments: Speaker-elect Representative Tom Leonard (R-DeWitt Townships), Chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee Representative Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton), member […]