Tuesday, June 11th, 2024

I voted NO on SB 498 (Sen. Irwin) would require Tribal Governments to be included in the decision-making process of foster care review boards (or other placing agencies) when the foster child is a Native American. EXPLANATION: We should not be treating children differently on the basis of ethnicity, heritage or religion.. Additionally, these practices already exist in SCAO policy, making this unnecessary.

PASSED: 90-19

I voted NO on SB 690 (Sen. Klinefelt) would revise the Michigan code of military justice to align it with Federal standards and make several additional changes. EXPLANATION: The changes in federal standards were made at the direction of the Biden administration to “transform” the military by including the woke ideologies of today regarding psychological, emotional and verbal abuse. Unfortunately, this legislation would go beyond the Biden administration’s agenda of softening our military.

PASSED: 104-5

I voted NO on HB 5043, 5044,  (Reps. Rogers, Mueller) would alter the process for the certification of death records by physicians through the Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS), and clarify when a county medical examiner certifies a death record. EXPLANATION: This will add another onerous requirement in record keeping onto physicians, which leads to additional work. The spirit of the bill alludes to a goal of timeliness and efficiency, so it logically follows that we should instead be reducing the bureaucratic burden on physicians.

PASSED: 105-4, PASSED: 105-4

I voted YES on HB 5737 (Rep. Aiyash) would broaden the scope of the Mentored Youth Hunting Program, making it inclusive of individuals with special needs. EXPLANATION: The Mentored Youth Hunt has had great success. This legislation eliminates certain challenges the hunters participating in the program have been facing. Further, it expands the program to include individuals with special needs who possess the capability to engage in hunting activities with assistance and removes the licensing fee.

PASSED: 109-0

I voted NO on HB 5393 (Rep. Hope) would make a technical fix to a bill from the recent Juvenile Justice Task Force package, to limit the amount of time a juvenile offender’s case can remain on the consent calendar by changing the adopted language from 3 months to 6 months. EXPLANATION: Republicans did not support the Juvenile Justice Task Force bill package overall, as it would not solve the crisis facing Michigan’s youth. There is no need to help the Democrats fix their own drafting error.

PASSED: 56-53

I voted NO on SB 682 (Sen. Damoose) would establish an overall 15mph speed limit on Mackinac Island, with a maximum speed of 10mph within a business district. EXPLANATION: Mackinac Island State Park Commission has already set regulations for e-bikes and this legislation would restrict the freedom of all riders on the island.

PASSED: 65-44

I voted NO on HB 5379, 5747 (Rep. Hill) would expand the distance from 30 to 50 air miles for what would be allowed under a fuel tax reciprocity agreement. It also corrects the kilogram weight references for qualified motor carriers and clarifies the definition of a “motor carrier.” EXPLANATION: These are government solutions to government-made problems. This anti-free market “solution” will only encourage the democrats to further hike overall gas taxes and encourage more anti-competitive behavior with bordering states.

PASSED: 100-9, PASSED: 99-10

Wednesday, June 12th, 2024:

I voted NO on HB 5030, 5031, 5032,  (Rep. Coffia, Puri, Snyder) would collectively amend the State Housing Development Authority Act by modifying provisions relating to the cancellation of bonds, the participation of the resident member of MSHDA, and the sales price limit for certain housing loans. EXPLANATION: This package is more central planning and market manipulation, more government solutions to government-made problems. If we simply reduce the financial burden on Michiganders and the regulatory burden on Michigan businesses, the free market would be able to solve the associated problems.

PASSED: 59-49, PASSED: 56-53, PASSED: 60-48

I voted NO on SB 702 (Sen. Singh) would increase the minimum number of training hours required for cosmetology instructor, manicurist, and esthetician licenses to meet federal financial aid requirements. EXPLANATION: From the start, these regulations are anti-free market barriers of entry to business. Making those barriers even harder to overcome is taking our state in the opposite direction from where it should be going.

PASSED: 93-16

I voted NO on SB 465 (Sen. Singh) would amend the Michigan vehicle code to prohibit a vehicle from following a snowplow more closely than 200 feet. EXPLANATION: A 200 foot distance may be appropriate in some cases but is difficult to visualize, for some people it is not possible. Conditions involving proximity to snow plows are the rightful responsibility of the individuals driving and are best handled by them. Creating more regulations does not solve a problem, it reduces driver confidence, it creates more confusion on the road and ultimately makes the road more hazardous.

PASSED: 80-29

I voted YES on SB 251 (Sen. Geiss) would eliminate the requirement for a bus to display the primary telephone number on both sides of the bus. EXPLANATION: This reduces the regulatory and financial burden of doing business in Michigan.

PASSED: 110-0

I voted NO on SB 417 (Sen. Singh) would amend the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) Act to make changes to what types of projects MSHDA can finance with certain bonds, and also clarifies certain conditions of this type of financing. EXPLANATION:  This is more central planning and market manipulation, more government solutions to government-made problems. If we simply reduce the financial burden on Michiganders and the regulatory burden on Michigan businesses, the free market would be able to solve the associated problems.

PASSED: 58-51

I voted NO on HB 5569, 5570, (Rep. Tsernoglou. Bierlein) would impose civil liability and criminal penalties for the non-consensual creation and dissemination of deep fake sexual images. EXPLANATION: People can clearly be victimized by the use of these new technological capabilities; I was working on sponsoring a bill with the same objective and wanted to support this bill (to create protections against the dissemination of non-consensual deep fakes), but it has several components that compromise an individual’s defense from improper claims. Removing a person’s ability to defend themselves from criminal allegations by invalidating verbal agreements is entirely improper and destroys legitimate defense precedent. Further, the additional $100,000 award, in excess of other damages through civil action, creates a situation ripe for abuse.

PASSED: 108-2, PASSED: 108-2

I voted NO on HB 4427 (Rep. Young) would make incarcerated persons eligible to file FOIA requests. EXPLANATION: This change would further exacerbate a problem which has led to harassment and delay in the completion of reasonable requests. Inmates can already have their attorneys and/or family submit FOIA requests when appropriate.

PASSED: 56-53

I voted NO on HB 5546 (Rep. Snyder) would provide Michigan beer and soft drink distributors a tax credit equal to ½ cent per returnable container sold. EXPLANATION: The majority of states do not have bottle deposit laws, and they have better recycling rates. This law should be repealed, but instead the state is creating more government solutions to government-made problems.

PASSED: 103-7

I voted NO on HB 4360 (Rep. Brabec) would amend the Emergency Services to Municipalities Act to allow municipalities to create an authority for emergency services within, but not the entire, territory of the municipalities. EXPLANATION: This bill was added at the last minute. I voted NO on this bill on November 9th, 2024. Insufficient time was given in order to review any changes that may have been made by the Senate.

PASSED: 79-31

Thursday, June 13th, 2024:

I voted YES on HB 5110 (Rep. Wozniak) would create the “Unitrust Act” – a new act establishing procedures relating to the administration of unitrusts and income trusts. EXPLANATION: Unitrusts in Michigan law will provide trustees with additional options to serve and protect the best interests of beneficiaries.

PASSED: 109-0

I voted YES on SB 235 (Sen. Outman) would create a new act to designate February 1st of each year as “Blue Star Mothers Day” in Michigan. EXPLANATION: Recognizing the struggle of mothers who endure the process of sending their sons and daughters off for military service is important and this day would provide that recognition of their sacrifice. This is especially appropriate, as the federal government has not had the decency to properly declare war before sending their sons and daughters into harm’s way since WW2.

PASSED: 109-0

I voted NO on SB 603, 604 (Sen. Chang, Moss) would amend Michigan Election Law to make several changes to the current recount process in Michigan. This bill would also make technical sentencing updates related to the updated criminal penalties included in SB 603. EXPLANATION:  These bills would strip away time-honored law that gives bipartisan county boards of canvassers in our state the authority to investigate fraud, wrongdoing, or a violation of the law in our elections. In ten different places, Senate Bill No. 603 deletes the words “fraud” or “mistake” and replaces them with the word “error.” The bill also deletes language pertaining to “fraudulent” or “illegal” activity, including “ballot tampering.” These bills make it so that we can’t even look at potential fraud or illegal activity during a recount.

PASSED: 56-53, PASSED: 56-53

I voted YES on HB 5598, 5599 (Rep. Liberati) would reform the state penalties for deed fraud and update the code of criminal procedure to reflect the new ten-year felony created in HB 5598. EXPLANATION: The bill provides clarity surrounding which activities constitute deed fraud and allows registers of deeds to provide evidence to county prosecutors to help root out deed fraud.

PASSED: 109-0, PASSED: 109-0

I voted YES on SB 841, 842, 843 (Sen. Klinefelt) would create a new crime for the act of having sexual contact or sexual penetration with a dead human body, amend the criminal sentencing guidelines to incorporate the new criminal penalties created in SB 841, and would amend the Sex Offenders Registration Act to add the new offenses created in SB 841 to the list of crimes for which a convicted person must register as a sex offender. EXPLANATION: Michigan law should contain a penalty for necrophilia and someone who commits that crime should be required to register as a sex offender.

PASSED: 109-0, PASSED: 109-0, PASSED: 109-0