Thursday, December 27, 2012

Legislative Update (Special Edition)

With the Legislature finally closing its books on the 96th Legislature there were many issues that made their way through the process that kept MSMS on its toes. We provided several letters of support or opposition, provides hours of testimony to the House and Senate, and made hundreds of office visits and phone calls and e-mails. All of this truly helped shape the health policy that Michigan gained over the past two years. Now that the session is over we want to take a look at the issues that affected all of us:

Liability Reform:

Drs Elmassian and Chafty Testifying
The largest victory for MSMS this year was the passage of reforms that would bring Michigan's tort climate back toward what was originally passed by the legislature in 1993. Senate Bills 1115 and 1118 were passed by the legislature in, what some would call, a legendary lame duck session of the Michigan Legislature. These reforms did not come without the battles including five committee hearings in the Senate on these bills which lead to huge crowds in the committee rooms. Those who were for and those against the reforms packed the room wanting to make their presence known to the committee and how they felt.

View at tort reform hearing.
After hours and hours of testimony the Senate committee moved the legislation to the floor and from there the legislation had covered it first real hurdle. Deliberations, discussions, amendments, and speeches against and for the legislation lead us to the final day of working session for the legislature where the House finally took up the legislation on the floor and gave it its blessing to send it to the Governor for his signature. It has been almost twenty years since there has been some significant tort reform for medical malpractice in Michigan until the end of this session, these tort reforms will be good for physicians but more importantly good for patients.

Wayne State Medical Students
 lobbying for Tort Reform.
Earlier in the term MSMS worked on legislation that would allow those physicians who are employed to volunteer in clinics and be provided protections that are afforded to those who are retired and work in the clinics (House Bill 4350). There was contention with this legislation since it provided what some classified as blanket immunity has they had in the later tort reform debate. Working with the members of the Senate, MSMS and other parties were able to come to an agreement that would provide the protection to those who are not contractually compelled to work in clinics to receive the liability protections of those who are retired and volunteering. It was a great day for medicine by opening the door to those physicians who wish to give of their time to help those who need the help the most.

Medical Marihuana:

Dr. Newman testifying to the Senate
Judiciary committee on Medical Marihuana
In this term Medical Marihuana left us with the question of what a "bona-fide patient/physician relationship" was in the eyes of the law. In medicine that question can lead to several answers. The face to face relationship all the way to telemedicine can lead to the definition of a patient/physician relationship. The Medical Marihuana statute stated that grey area that required patients to have this relationship with their physician but did not state what that relationship looked like and left law enforcement and the medical community scratching their heads. Insert House Bill 4851 which for the purposes of Medical Marihuana defined what that relationship looked like. Now patients would have to have contact with their physicians regularly rather that a one and done visit as some were seeing for those who were looking to obtain a certification for Medical Marihuana.

Insurance:

Insurance was an issue that started right away in the session with the attempt by the House to change the Michigan Auto No Fault system. House Bill 4936 wanted to provide levels of coverage that a person can obtain that would provide a certain level of financial coverage for any personal injury that occurred in an auto accident. From the state this was an issue that MSMS was against. Legislators were looking to provide choice for those individuals who were looking to save on car insurance and also provide relief to the Michigan Catastrophic Claims Fund, the fund that covers those gravely injured in an auto accident. Proponents of the legislation stated that the changed needed to happen since in its current form it would bankrupt the system. Opponents of the legislation asked to see the numbers and in the end were never given the opportunity to see the hard data. The House Insurance committee did pass a series of reformed and sent it to the House floor for their consideration but were never able to obtain the votes. Expect this issue back again the new session.

It wouldn't be a complete legislative session if Blue Cross/Blue Shield wasn't involved in some way. This term they had the backing of the Governor and finally found a way to get out from under PA 350 or the Nonprofit Health Care Corporation Reform Act. This act provided the tax breaks that the Blues enjoyed but also provided some requirements that the Blues did not enjoy. With the impending implementation of the health insurance exchange in Michigan, the Governor thought it was time to bring a change to the Blues and give them the ability to compete in the insurance exchange among other reasons and push for legislation to reform the Blues. The Legislature responded and created a nonprofit mutual insurer in the state of Michigan and providing a path to those incorporated under PA 350 to convert into this mutual insurer. This legislation did not come without a cost, requiring that the Blues pay to the state $1.56 Billion from now until 2018. This money will be placed in a health fund used to cover health projects and subsides Medigap policies until 2021 at a cost of $120 Million a year. The Governor received his wish and Senate Bills 1293 and 1294 were sent to his desk where they await his eventual signature.

Helmets:

Before the Legislature left for the summer break this past year they decided to take up an issue that has been on the burners of the legislature for years. They finally made a decision on the age old question, should you be required to wear a helmet while operating a motorcycle? In their opinion you should not be required since it was your individual right to determine whether you ride with a helmet or not. Senate Bill 291 made its way through the legislature going through its ups and downs, being amended several time, and at one point being used in the same conversation the changes with Auto No Fault, but in the end it was finally time according to the legislature to act on this measure. MSMS was adamantly opposed to the legislation reasoning that the having helmet on in an accident will give you the greatest chance to walk away from that accident but the Governor and Legislature did not see it that way and now today we have those who cherish their individual freedoms riding without a helmet. Time will tell if this was a wise decision for Michigan.

Graduate Medical Education:

Every year at MSMS we always face small battles when it comes to the budget, whether it’s trying to get more money for Medicaid, trying to stop the cut to public health funding, or trying to keep J-1 visa waivers in the budget we always have some small battles. One that always continued to come up and we feel will continue to, is the funding for Graduate Medical Education. The Governor has presented his last two budgets to the legislature with significant cuts to the program citing that the priority should be funding Medicaid at a higher level so that physicians will service more patients on Medicaid rather than funding the training of new physicians, fresh out of medical school. We see and understand the investment on Graduate Medical Education and what care this provides to those who need to care the most. Through work and education of the legislators we have been able to stay away from the deep cuts proposed by the Governor and only work hard to absorb small cuts from the legislature. In the coming years we will have to continue this fight to keep GME at its current level rather than seeing another cut to the program.

Affordable Care Act:

This is the only federal issue that made out list this year. We all know about the sustainable growth rate (SGR) and how we face looming cuts into Medicare but somehow Congress always finds a way to kick the can down the road. This time we think it will be the same but with the fiscal cliff casting a shadow on other impending issues, it could take some serious lifting by Congress to get this done on time.

US Supreme Court rendering opinion
in Affordable Care Hearings.
But now on to the Affordable Care Act and the decision from United States Supreme Court that some say rocked and other say solidified the nation in the future of its health care. The Supreme Court upheld the law saying that it was in the taxing authority of Congress to mandate insurance for people and was not within the commerce clause of the US Constitution. This left many states that were waiting for a decision under the gun if they were going to start creating their own health insurance exchanges. As for Michigan an attempt was tried with legislation that was sent from the Senate to the House, Senate Bill 693, but failed to gain the proper support from the committee. The state will now have a state/federal partnership exchange in 2014.

Scope of Practice:

This year the Medical Society found itself involved in looking at the future of medicine and how the team approach to care can continue to grow in Michigan. At the start of the term, physician assistants and physicians came together to find ways to grow their partnership in Medicine and came out of those discussions with Senate Bill 384 which brought more clarification on the relationship between PA's and Physicians, strengthening it, providing greater avenues to provides the best care.
Physical Therapists made an attempt this year to provide direct access for patients, bypassing the physician in House Bill 4603. Nurses also were looking for some clarification on their profession and how they fit into the team approach of medicine with Senate Bill 481. Both of these pieces of legislation did not make through the entire legislative process but MSMS is looking forward to continuing discussions with these groups to better strengthen the medical team in Michigan.

Autism:

Dr. Phillip Wise with Lt. Governor
Brian Calley at the signing of the Autism
Legislation.
This legislative term saw the largest advancement in mental health parity in Michigan in decades. MSMS has always had a long standing policy to support mental health parity in the insurance coverage of treatment of mental health conditions. Michigan took a step towards that this term by requiring the coverage of services surrounding the treatment of Autism. This was a priority of the Lieutenant Governor, Brian Calley; an issue that he worked hard for when he was a member of the Michigan House. Senate Bills 414, 415, and 981 started in June of 2011 with 981 adding in March 2012 and by April 18, 2012 it was the law of the land that insurers had to start to cover Autism services and treatment in Michigan. This is one small victory towards the larger goal of mental health parity.

Claims Tax:

Starting in 2011 there were rumblings from the federal government that the use tax that was set up by Michigan to tax the insurers that held Medicaid plans in Michigan was going to be ruled illegal and could penalize the State by holding back funds for Michigan's Medicaid program. A dilemma was presented to the legislature on what to do to replace the revenue needed to obtain the funds needed for Medicaid. Thus the claims tax proposal was created. Senate Bills 347 and 348 eliminated the use tax and created a claims assessment or tax on each of the insurance claims filed at a 1% level in Michigan. This was supposed to solve the revenue shortfall that would come with the elimination of the Use Tax but that as time moved on it proved not to be the case and this year the Medicaid faces a $140 Million shortfall that has to be filled somehow. The Senate tried to move Senate Bill 1359 which would provide an adjustable rate to make the need for revenue but was rejected by the Senate Appropriations committee. The legislature continues to look for solutions for the shortfall.

Abortion:

Abortion was an issue that seemed to be on the forefront this term with the legislature as looked tightens up regulations surrounding this hot button issue. There were several bills introduced and has testimony taken but in the end, these bills were placed into one large bill House Bill 5711. This legislation took a look at four major issues the legislature felt needed to be addressed: the licensing of facilities that perform abortions, the disposal of remains, and the liability protections needed by a physician who performs abortions, and the use of telemedicine in an abortion. Those against this bill called this issue the War on Women and continued to push for its stall in the House and the Senate. Those efforts did fail and in the early morning hours of the last day of session, the House concurred with the Senate and sent the bill to be enrolled and presented to the Governor. It’s currently uncertain if the Governor will sign the legislation.

Abortion found its way into the blue cross mutualization changes mentioned above with amendments that were added by the House to require that coverage for elective abortions be an opt-in coverage rather than an opt-out situation when purchasing coverage. We will have to wait and see the impact it will have on Michiganders.

Impaired Drivers:

Dr. Spanaki testifying with Senator
Schuitmaker on Senate Bills 402 & 403
An issue that MSMS has been working on for several years was finally accomplished this legislative term by providing liability protections for physicians who report to the Michigan Secretary of State that a person may be impaired to operate a motor vehicle. Senate Bills 402 and 403 started in the Senate Transportation committee and made their way through the entire process landing on the Governor's desk at the end of the second week of December. With the Governor's signature on this legislation physicians can report those patients they feel should not be operating a motor vehicle and let the Secretary of State decide whether that individual should be driving.

Bullying:

A major issue for the MSMS Alliance with past term was the creation of regulations for schools on how to handle instances of bullying. House Bill 4163 was created to provide the school districts have plans in place to handle bullying and plans that are specific to their school district but meet certain requirements required in the act. In December of 2011 Michigan joined other states by have the Governor sign Matt's Safe School Law into law.

Concussions  and High School Athletes:

Watching local high school sports over the past several years there continues to be a push to be faster, be stronger, hit harder and just become more physical overall. With this drive the amount of concussions happening in High School athletics was rising sharply leaving physicians, parents, coaches, and school personal concerned for the safety of the students playing athletics. This lead to the introduction of Senate Bill 1122 and House Bill 5697. Both of these pieces of legislation set into motion procedures that needed to be taken by school personal, what clearance was needed to be obtained by the athlete to compete again and what literature was needed to be provided to the athletes and parents on concussions and their treatment. We are hopeful that this will protect those athletes that want to compete at their highest levels.

With a busy legislative term over, MSMS is looking forward to what the next legislative term will bring. Some of the same issues mentioned today could very well make their way back into the legislative picture in the coming term. Stay with MSMS to get the latest information on issues going through the legislature that affect you and your practice at http://www.msms.org.advocacy. We will be taking a break now until the start of the new term, hope you all have a great new year!
 

Friday, December 14, 2012

Legislative Update Week of December 10th

The final week of lame duck came to a close around 4:30am today, signalling the end of the work being done by the 96th legislature of Michigan. This final day did bring a flurry of issues though the House and Senate including money for a new arena for the Detroit Red Wings, replacement for the emergency manager law, repeal of the personal property tax, and the Detroit lighting authority just to name a few, lets take a look at the issues that will effect you:

Tort Reform:

The House Judiciary committee took up the tort reform bills that made their way from the Senate. Senate Bill 1115, 1117, and 1118 were considered in committee. The committee had a litany of legislation that it needed to consider on this past Wednesday. The committee finally was able to support 1115 and 1118 and sent them to the full House for their consideration. On the last day of session the House took up the remaining bills in the package and by 5:10pm, the House was sending to the Governor legislation that would be the most substantial tort reform that Michigan has seen for medical malpractice since the early nineties. Rumors have been floating around that the two other bills that did not make it through the process will be reintroduced in the coming term.

Abortion:

The House and Senate this week traded legislation, House Bill 5711, that addressed several issues surrounding abortion. One would make it illegal to perform an abortion on a woman who has been coerced into receiving one. Secondly there would be licensing requirement for those facilities that would perform abortions and would require reporting to the Department of Community Health. More information on the legislation can been seen at the link above.

Conscientious Objectors:

The House Insurance committee considered Senate Bill 975 which would provide the protection to physicians who chose not to perform a certain procedure due to a religious or moral objection. MSMS submitted a letter to the committee expressing some concerns we had with the legislation but more importantly praised the efforts of the sponsor of the legislation with his willingness to work with the medical community to address those concerns. The legislation did make it out of committee but did not make it out of the House. MSMS expects to work again with the sponsor in the coming term on the legislation.

With the legislative term coming to a close, we will be taking a break for a little bit. Check in next week as we will have a review of the legislative term discussing the issues that MSMS has worked on for the past two years. Comments are always welcome and we want to hear from you. We have a comment section with every article, please feel free to leave one. Keep up with all advocacy efforts at http://www.msms.org/advocacy.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Legislative Update Week of December 3rd

View of the wait into the House gallery.
Week two of the lame duck session of the legislature continued to offer excitement, fireworks, and even an arrest or two around the Capitol. The week started out with not knowing what the House was going to do with the Blue Cross mutualization legislation that was in the House Insurance committee. Rumblings of Right to Work legislation lead to an all out confrontation between union and legislators on Thursday. Lets review the week:

House:

The House Insurance committee finally meet after session on Wednesday to bring the agreement that the House, Senate, and Governor could agree to. The committee passed the legislation to the House Floor where it was amended again with final language that needed to be added. What was added? A fix for those who have medigap policies. The bill now requires the fund set up by the conversion to pay $120 Million yearly to subsidize the medigap policies until 2018. The House also added an elective abortion amendment that would require those who want to have coverage for an elective abortion to "opt in" for that coverage. The package will now head to the governor's desk for his signature.

The House Health Policy committee was scheduled to meet but with the Right to Work legislation being worked on that day, the committee was canceled.

Senate:

The Senate had a couple other items on their agenda that was health related this week, but as it was with the House, it was all about Right to Work. The Senate passed a series of three bills that made it illegal for those in the health insurance exchange to offer coverage for elective abortions unless the patient purchased an "opt in" coverage for the procedure. The package was sent to the House where it could be taken up since the House did consider some other controversial abortion regulations earlier in the year.

The Senate also considered and passed Senate Bill 975 despite some objections from the major medical groups. What this legislation would do, would provide protections for a physician who chooses not to treat a patient based on their religious beliefs. This raised several concerns to Senator , Kahn, a cardiologists, on the Senate floor saying that it goes against the oath that physician's take before entering into practice. The bill will now be sent to the House where with limited time in the legislative year probably will stay.

The House and Senate have one more week to consider items before they leave for the year. Tort Reform is expected to be taken up this week. Stay with MSMS at http://www.msms.org/advocacy to get the latest information on all of the action happening at the Capitol.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Legislative Update Week of November 26th

The first week of the legislative lame duck term was off and running right away this week. The House and Senate started working on several issues including some issues important to physicians around Michigan. Wayne State Medical School also made it up to the Capitol this week providing their insight to lawmakers on issues like tort reform and graduate medical education. Let's jump right into it.

House:

The House started their week of long goodbyes from members that will not be returning to Lansing at the end of the year. The House did consider and pass Senate Bills 402 and 403 that would provide protections to physicians to report patients to the Secretary of State, in their opinion, the patient should not be operating a motor vehicle. The package will now make its away to the Governor's desk where all indications are that the legislation will be signed.

The House Health Policy committee met on Thursday with an extensive agenda but ended up only considering Senate Bill 693, a bill that would create a health insurance exchange in Michigan. Testimony was impassioned by those who were against not just the exchange but the entire Affordable Care Act asking the members of the committee not to vote for the bill. The testimony continued and extended the comments that were made about the subject earlier on in the year to the end of committee, where Chairwoman Haines called for a vote on the bill. The bill failed to gain support out of committee with a count of 9 against, 5 in favor, and 2 passing. The Speaker put out the following statement:

“It was my hope the committee would find that a state-run exchange afforded us more control over the unacceptable over-reach by the federal government regarding the health care of Michigan citizens,” Mr. Bolger said in a statement. “After due diligence, however, it is clear that there were too many unanswered questions for the (Health Policy) committee to feel comfortable with a state-run exchange and we will not have one in Michigan.”

The committee adjourned for the day after the vote where rumors were that it would be the last House Health Policy committee for the term. MSMS will continue to monitor the activity of the committee.

The House Insurance committee also came into session on Thursday this week and went to recess right away. The committee did not reconvene once the House session started due to what some say was a lack of a substitute bill for the Blue Cross/Blue Shield conversion. The committee will be scheduled to meet in the coming week.

Senate:

The Senate brought a dogfight to the floor between interest group by working on Senate Bills 1115, 1117, and 1118. These are three out of the four tort reform bills that MSMS has been supporting and working on. After hard work between the groups some compromises were made and placed in the bills. The Michigan Association of Justice was able to get some more amendments placed into the legislation that were not favored by MSMS. With the amendments being added the Senate voted all three bills to the House where the work will continue. MSMS will be working to take out some of the harmful amendments added during the Senate session.

The Senate Appropriations committee met to consider Senate Bill 1359, among others, which provided a fix for the Insurance Claims Tax that was added to replace the Medicaid Use Tax.  The Senate Fiscal Agency along with the Michigan Department of Treasury projected that with the $400 Million that needed to be made up with the repeal of the use tax the state was going to be $144 Million short in funding for the current fiscal year. The committee heard testimony from General Motors being opposed to the legislation since it would be a cost for them since they self insure their employees. At the end of the committee there were pretty strong signs that getting a fix for the Claims tax was going to be difficult.

The Senate Health Policy committee also met this week to consider House Bill 5315 and Senate Bill 975. MSMS commented to the committee that it has concerns with SB 975 but that we were working with the sponsor to find a solution to our differences. Both pieces of legislation were passed to the full Senate on party lines.

Wayne State Lobby Day:

Wayne State students speak with
Senator Smith.
Wayne State brought some of their up and coming physicians to the Capitol to have meetings with legislators and to lobby them on two issues that they felt were important to them, Tort Reform and Graduate Medical Education. With over 65 students invading the Capitol, several groups of students were able to meet with members directly in their offices, while other groups caught them in the lobby of the Senate and House as they made their way out of the chambers.

Drs Bizon and Elmassian addressing
the Wayne Students.
Later in day Dr. Bizon and Dr. Elmassian joined the students to share their thoughts on the future of medicine, why it was important to be lobbying to the legislature, and how they can make a difference in their community. Both were able to join the students later in the afternoon to work with them and support their efforts to lobby the legislature. Dr. Elmassian commented on how he was impressed with the turnout from the students and how we needed to continue to have efforts like this moving forward. "All schools should be thinking of doing this, it would be great for medicine and their future as physicians."

Next week should bring more activity in the legislature, stay with MSMS to get the up to date information including when committee meetings are and what they are considering for the day on the House and Senate floors. Go to http://www.msms.org/advocacy to get all of the information you need.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Legislative Update: Week of November 19th


With elections finally over and the legislature facing its final weeks in Lansing, the chaos of lame duck is about to start. With the House Republicans losing five members, those leaving have agenda items that they would like to see get done in these short weeks. Those members find themselves fighting against the Governor who also has issues that he would like to see completed before the House and Senate head home for the holidays.

Let’s take a look at what we feel will be the top five projects the legislature will be working on in this coming lame duck session:

1.      Blue Cross/Blue Shield Mutualization: With the Senate pushing through their legislation before Election Day, we find that the House has a different story. Hearings have started in the House Insurance committee and have been marathon meetings starting last week and going through this week discussing issues surrounding Medigap and having the Attorney General Bill Schutte testifying that with this package we are pushing Michigan senior towards a cliff, possibly leaving them without the some of the coverage seniors need. MSMS has amendments it will be looking to introduce in the coming weeks to the package protecting some the privileges offered under PA 350.

2.      Personal Property Tax Reform: This is a request and an issue that is important to the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor. This has been an interest to this administration in the past. While LG Calley was a member of the House he was the minority chair for the House Tax Policy committee where eliminating the PPT was an interest to him at that time. A good thing for the LG is that Speaker Bolger is of the same opinion as him, I would imagine that the House will work to get the PPT off the books before they head home.

3.      Health Care Exchanges: With the Senate tackling this issue earlier this year, the House had a wait and see attitude when it came to the exchanges, first waiting for the United States Supreme Court to render its decision then waiting to see the outcome of the elections, the House now faces either federal implementation for work hard over the next few weeks to get a state exchange in place. We'll see what the legislature can accomplish when the majority feels that this isn't the program they wanted to deal with.

4.      Regional Transit Authority: With Detroit dealing with several financial problems, the thought of a regional transit authority would ease those concerns that surround the transit system. This issue has come up time after time and has never been able to make it out of the legislature, maybe this time it could.

5.      PA 4 Replacement: With Michiganders choosing to take the Emergency Financial Manager act off the books we find the state going back to the Emergency Manager act taking away some powers that some would argue were able to get some off the cities and school districts back on better footing. Now some feel there needs to be a replacement that would still provide the authority that the managers need to get these municipal units back on course.

Other items on the horizon could be mining taxes, educational achievement authorities, and the discussion that with the failure of proposition 2 and 4 if that is a signal to the legislature that Michigan is ready to be a Right to Work state.

MSMS will be making our final push for this legislative session on Tort Reform. We still continue to feel positive that we could get some movement on this during lame duck. We also will be working on getting our impaired drivers legislation moved from the House floor and to the Governor's desk and hopefully seeing movement on Expedited Partner Therapy by sine die.

Stay with MSMS throughout this lame duck session to get the latest information affecting you at http://www.msms.org/advocacy.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Legislative Update Special Edition (Election Wrap-Up)


As the election results get finalized, we wanted to pass along to you the unofficial results from the recent election.  As you’re well aware, President Barack Obama soundly defeated Governor Mitt Romney here in Michigan, but here are other noteworthy elections in the state last night:   

·         Senator Debbie Stabenow also scored a strong victory over former Congressman Pete Hoekstra. 

·         The state Supreme Court returned Justices Markman and Zahra to the bench and Democratic nominee Bridget McCormack locked up the third open seat on the court.  The Republicans retained their 4-3 majority on the high court. 

·         All six ballot proposals were defeated.

 

The House Republicans retained their majority by a 59-51 advantage (down from 64-46).  Here are some of the key races highlighted:

·         House District 76 - Representative Roy Schmidt was defeated by Democrat Winnie Brinks. DEMOCRATIC PICK-UP.

·         House District 84 - Republican Dan Grimshaw was defeated by former Representative Terry Brown.  DEMOCRATIC PICK-UP.

·         House District 101 - Representative Ray Franz (Republican) defeated Democrat Allen O’Shea 51%-48%.  REPUBLICAN HOLD.

·         House District 91 - Representative Holly Hughes (Republican) was defeated by Democrat Colleen LaMonte in a razor thin contest by 333 votes.  DEMOCRATIC PICK-UP.

·         House District 57 - Representative Nancy Jenkins (Republican) faces former Democratic State Senator Jim Berryman.  Ms. Jenkins prevailed by over 2000 votes.  REPUBLICAN HOLD.

·         House District 71 - Representative Deb Shaughnessy (Republican) faced a rematch with her 2010 opponent, Democrat Theresa Abed, whom she narrowly defeated. Representative Shaughnessy was defeated by more than 3000 votes. DEMOCRATIC PICK-UP.

·         House District 63 – Republican Speaker of the House Jase Bolger faced Democrat Bill Farmer on Tuesday.  Speaker Bolger survived a scare by 800 votes.  REPUBLICAN HOLD.

·         House District 110 - Representative Matt Huuki faced Democrat Scott Dianda.  Mr. Dianda capitalized on the increased turnout and defeated Representative Huuki by just over 1000 votes.  DEMOCRATIC PICK-UP.

·         House District 52 - Representative Mark Ouimet (Republican) faced Democrat Gretchen Driskell in this that covers parts of Washtenaw County.  Ms. Driscoll defeated Representative Ouimet by over 3000 votes. DEMOCRATIC PICK-UP.

·         House District 39 - Republican Klint Kesto faced Democrat Pam Jackson in this open seat previously held by a Democrat which includes West Bloomfield, Commerce and Wixom in Oakland County.  Mr. Kesto prevailed by almost 3000 votes. REPUBLICAN PICK-UP.

·         House District 25 - Republican Sean Clark faced off against Democrat Henry Yanez in this seat consisting portions of Sterling Heights and Warren.  Mr. Yanez prevailed by just over 1000 votes. DEMOCRATIC HOLD.

·         House District 67 - Republican Jeff Oesterle faced Democrat Tom Cochren in this seat covering southern Ingham County. Mr. Cochren defeated Mr. Oesterle by over 5000 votes.  DEMOCRATIC HOLD.

·         House District 103 - Representative Bruce Rendon faced Democrat Lon Johnson in this seat that includes Kalkaska, Crawford, Missaukee, Roscommon, and Ogemaw Counties. Representative Rendon defeated Mr. Johnson by over 2500 votes.  REPUBLICAN HOLD.

·         House District 108 - Representative Ed McBroom faced Democrat Sharon Gray in this seat covering the Southwest Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Representative McBroom defeated Ms. Gray by over 3500 votes. REPUBLICAN HOLD.

·         House District 70 - Representative Rick Outman (Republican) faced a rematch versus former Representative Mike Huckleberry (Democrat) in this seat that includes Montcalm and parts of Gratiot Counties.  Representative Outman defeated Mr. Huckleberry by just under 3000 votes.  REPUBLICAN HOLD.

·         House District 23 - Representative Pat Somerville (Republican) defeated Democrat Tom Boritzki .  REPUBLICAN HOLD.

·         House District 106 - Representative Peter Pettalia (Republican) defeated Democrat Kenneth Hubbard in this seat covering Iosco, Alcona, Alpena, Presque Isle, and Cheboygan Counties. REPUBLICAN HOLD.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Legislative Update for the Week of October 22nd (Election Edition)

Matt Miner of Capital Strategies Group has prepared an Overview of the 2012 General Election Including Analysis of the Presidential, U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, Michigan Supreme Court, Michigan State House of Representatives Races, as well as All Ballot Proposals. 


Presidential Election:

Polling in Michigan has shown a continual lead for President Obama since the two parties chose their respective candidate at convention. In recent weeks, Governor Romney has seen a significant rise in support as a large number of undecided voters have begun to choose him over the President. Below is a synopsis of polling conducted by five polling firms in Michigan from October 5th through October 17th and the results those polls produced. As you will see, President Obama has maintained an average of a five point lead in Michigan.

 


POLL

DATE

SAMPLE SIZE

MARGIN OF ERROR

OBAMA (D)

Romney (R)

SPREAD

BAYDOUN/FOSTER

10/23/12

1122

2.9%

47%

47%

TIE

EPIC MRA

10/17/12

800

3.5%

52%

46%

OBAMA +6%

RASMUSSEN REPORTS

10/11/12

500

4.5%

52%

45%

OBAMA +7%

LAMBERT EDWARDS/

10/10/12

600

4.0%

44%

41%

OBAMA +3%

DENNO RESEARCH

 

 

 

 

 

 

DETROIT NEWS

10/9/12

600

4.0%

49%

42%

OBAMA +7%

GRAVIS MARKETING

10/8/12

1122

3.2%

46%

44%

OBAMA +2%

Analysis:

At this moment, President Obama holds a slight advantage in Michigan, which would put Michigan’s 16 Electoral College Votes in the LEAN OBAMA category. With less than three weeks left in the race, it would take a considerable Get-Out-The-Vote program, coupled with depressed Democratic turnout at the polls for Romney to pull off the upset in Michigan. The reason Michigan is just a lean state for Obama is because a strong Democratic voter turnout is not guaranteed.

Nationally, it’s a different story. Polls seem to change daily, but Romney is making significant gains in previous strongholds for President Obama. In 2008, Obama took a whopping 365 Electoral College votes (270 needed to win). At this moment, he leads Governor Romney 237 Electoral College Votes to 219 Electoral College Votes in the latest national analysis. States like Indiana and North Carolina that went for Obama in 2008 are now likely Romney states (26 total electoral votes). Romney also holds leads in Colorado and Florida (38 total electoral votes). Should these states hold, Romney would have 257 Electoral College votes. One state could hold the key to the magic number of 270. That state would be Ohio. No Republican has ever become President without winning Ohio, so in short, this entire election boils down to Ohio.
US Senate Election:

Michigan’s 2012 U.S. Senate race was initially high on the list of toss-up races across the country by many political pundits, but in the last two months, Senator Debbie Stabenow has pulled away from former Congressman Pete Hoekstra making this race a LIKELY DEMOCRATIC seat. Stabenow has never been the most popular senator in the state; she narrowly defeated Republican Spencer Abraham in the generally good Democratic year of 2000, and won by 15 points against an underwhelming Republican in the solid Democratic year of 2006. Her approval ratings are mired in the 40’s, but Stabenow's competitor, Pete Hoekstra, inflicted a fairly serious wound upon himself with a widely panned Super Bowl commercial, and he has trailed consistently in the polls.
Below is a synopsis of polling conducted by four polling firms in Michigan from October 5th through October 11th and the results those polls produced.

 
POLL

DATE

SAMPLE SIZE

MARGIN OF ERROR
 STABENOW (D) HOEKSTRA (R) SPREAD
RASMUSSEN REPORTS           10/11/12

 

500

4.5%

51%

          39%

STABENOW +12%

DETROIT NEWS

10/8/12

600

4.0%

50%

          38%

STABENOW +12%

EPIC MRA

 

10/6/12

600

3.5%

55%

           35%

STABENOW +20%

BAYDOUN/FOSTER

10/5/12

1122

**

51%

         43%

STABENOW +8%

 
For a while it looked as if Hoekstra was in this race, but Stabenow has taken command since the Democratic convention. It would take a massive shift in the dynamics of this contest for Hoekstra to win at this point.

US House Elections:

In 2012, Michigan has fourteen Congressional seats up for grabs. Currently, Republican’s hold nine seats and Democrat’s hold five seats. Republicans can expect to return seven of those members to Washington and Democrats will likely return five of those members. That leaves two races up for grabs.





1st District – Congressman Dan Benishek Michigan's 1st Congressional District covers the Upper Peninsula, and the northeastern portion of the state's "mitt." The UP supplies most of the Democratic vote for the district and about half of the overall vote. Overall, this is marginally Republican political territory, having given George W. Bush 53 percent of the vote and Barack Obama 50 percent. Former State Representative Gary McDowell, who hails from the Upper Peninsula, and Dan Benishek, a Tea Party-inspired candidate squared off in 2010 where Benishek handily defeated McDowell. This time around, Benishek has two years in D.C. under his belt and a list of tough votes to contend with. McDowell is in a better position to capitalize on these issues given that it is a presidential year, but if Obama runs poorly in the Upper Peninsula, Benishek could survive the surge from McDowell. At this moment things are trending McDowell’s way. LEAN DEMOCRATIC.

11th District - The Northwestern Detroit suburbs have long been a GOP stronghold. Congressman Thaddeus McCotter represented this district until May of this year when the 11th then experienced one of the strangest sequences of events in electoral history. McCotter failed to submit enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. That left the GOP with reindeer farmer Kerry Bentivolio as its nominee. The libertarian Bentivolio is an odd fit for the district, to say the least. But Democrats were caught flat-footed by McCotter's failure as well. Syed Taj filed to run as the lone Democrat in the race and has invested considerable cash, but polls suggest he is struggling to gain traction. This race is a mess, and it is only the GOP base strength of the district that is saving Bentivolio. Either way, this race is in the spotlight and will likely be much closer than many on the outside thinks. LEAN REPUBLICAN.

At this moment, it appears that the Republicans will keep the 11th and lose the 1st leaving the Republicans with an 8-6 majority in Michigan.
 
 
Michigan Supereme Court:
 
This year, the Michigan Supreme Court has two full six year terms up for grabs and one partial term ending 1/1/2015 up. Currently, Michigan Republican’s hold a 4-3 advantage on the court. Of the three seats up this year, two of them are held by a Republican nominee. Here’s how the make-up of the court breaks out today.
Democratic Nominee

Term Expires

Republican Nominee

Term Expires

Michael Cavanaugh

1/1/2015

Robert Young

1/1/2017

Marilyn Kelly

1/1/2013

Stephen Markman

1/1/2013

Diane Hathaway

1/1/2017

Mary Beth Kelly

1/1/2019

 

 

Brian Zahra

1/1/2013
Each party has nominated three candidates for the ballot; two candidates each for the two full terms and one candidate each for the partial term. Below is a list of those nominees and a brief biography. It is noteworthy to point out that Marilyn Kelly was not renominated by the Democratic party as she is 70 years of age and unable to serve another term on the court. Interestingly enough, the Democrats found another Kelly to run in Connie Marie Kelly.
Republican Nominees for the term expiring 1/1/2020:
Justice Stephen Markman – Judge Stephen Markman served as Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution and as Deputy Chief Counsel of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary from 1978 to 1985. He was then nominated to be a United States Assistant Attorney General, heading the Justice Department's Office of Legal Policy, by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the Senate. After being nominated by George H. W. Bush and approved by the United States Senate, Markman served as a United States Attorney in Michigan from 1989-1993. He joined the private sector firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone in Detroit, where he practiced until he was appointed to the 4th District Michigan Court of Appeals by Governor John Engler in 1995. He held that position until 1999, when Governor Engler appointed him to the Michigan Supreme Court. Michigan voters re-elected him to the position in 2000 and 2004.
Judge Colleen O’Brien - Judge Colleen A. O’Brien has served as a Judge of the Oakland County Circuit Court since winning election in 1998. Immediately following that election, she was appointed by Governor John Engler to take office immediately, to complete the term of her predecessor. She currently serves on the Circuit Court Criminal/Civil Division, where she has presided over thousands of both criminal and civil cases.
Democratic Nominees for the term expiring 1/1/2020:
Judge Connie Kelly – is a judge of the 3rd Circuit Court in Michigan. She was elected to this position on November 4, 2004 and was a private practice labor law attorney prior to her service on the bench.
Bridget McCormack Ms. McCormack is a law professor and Dean for Clinical Affairs at the University of Michigan Law School. 
Republican nominee for term expiring 1/1/2015:
 
Justice Brian Zahra Justice Zahra served as a Wayne County Circuit Court judge from 1994-98 and was appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals by Republican Governor John Engler in 1999. In 2004, he was nominated and ran for the Michigan Supreme Court. While losing that bid for election, he remained on the Court of Appeals. Zahra then went on to serve as Chief Judge Pro Tem for the Court of Appeals from December 2005 to January 2007. On January 11, 2011, Republican Governor Rick Snyder appointed Zahra to replace Maura Corrigan, who was in turn appointed to head the Michigan Department of Human Services. Governor Snyder's appointment of Zahra maintained the Republican nominees' 4-3 majority.
 
Democratic nominee for term expiring 1/1/2015:
Judge Shelia Johnson Judge Johnson was elected in November 2002 and is the first African American to serve as Judge in the 46th District Court. In November 2008, she was re-elected for an unopposed second term. Prior to assuming the bench, Judge Johnson was an attorney with over 18 years of legal experience in both State and Federal Courts. Judge Johnson was in private practice in Southfield where she specialized in both civil and criminal litigation.

Although there is hardly any credible polling on these races, newspaper endorsements and Irish last names tend to rule the day in Supreme Court races. The general electorate just isn’t educated on many of the non-partisan races on the back side of the ballot. TV commercials have done a lot to bolster the name identification of the candidates, but the results of these and other non­partisan elections usually rest on the back of voter turnout. The major turnovers in the court came at times of drastically increased Democratic voter turnout (2008) and reduced Democratic voter turnout (1998).

Michigan House Elections:

The race for control of the Michigan House of Representatives is up for grabs once again this year. Although roughly 95 of the seats will likely have a predictable outcome, there are 16 seats that would be considered toss-ups going into the final couple weeks of the campaign. The winners of these 16 seats will decide who controls the House for the 2013-2014 legislative session. Currently, Republicans hold a 64-46 edge. Democrats need to pick up 9 seats to share control and 10 seats to gain control. Below is an analysis of 17 races that will play a role in deciding whether or not the Democrats will take control of the chamber. These races are ranked in order of their likelihood of changing hands.
1.    House District 76 - Newly converted Republican Representative Roy Schmidt faces Democrat Winnie Brinks in this 51% Republican seat. It appears that Mr. Schmidt’s party switch scheme was fatal and it is widely believed that Ms. Brinks has this race wrapped up. LEAN DEMOCRAT.
2.    House District 84 - Republican Dan Grimshaw ousted Representative Kurt Damrow in the primary election in August and is set to face former Representative Terry Brown, who lost to Damrow in 2010. This seat covers Tuscola and Huron Counties and has a 55% Republican base. This race will likely be close until the end with a slight edge to Brown who has considerable name ID. This would be a pick-up for Democrats. LEAN DEMOCRAT.
3.    House District 101 - Representative Ray Franz (Republican) faces Democrat Allen O’Shea in this seat which includes Mason, Manistee, Benzie and Leelanau Counties. This seat has a 53% Republican base. This race remains close but it appears Mr. O’Shea has the edge at this moment and has a better ground game than Representative Franz. While the seat is slightly Republican, it is considered one of the more volatile seats given the results of recent elections. LEAN DEMOCRAT.
4.    House District 57 - Representative Nancy Jenkins (Republican) faces former Democratic State Senator Jim Berryman in this seat that includes most of Leelanau County. This seat has a 53% Republican base. This race remains very close, but sources say Mr. Berryman has the edge at this moment. LEAN DEMOCRAT.
5.    House District 91 - Representative Holly Hughes (Republican) faces Democrat Colleen LaMonte in this seat which includes much of Muskegon County. This seat has a 52% Democratic base. This seat has switched parties more than any other seat in the last 30 years. This race will likely stay close until the end with no clear leader at this point. TOSS UP.
6.    House District 71 - Representative Deb Shaughnessy (Republican) faces a rematch with her 2010 opponent, Democrat Theresa Abed, whom she narrowly defeated. This is includes most of Eaton County and has a 51% Republican base. Recent polling suggests that it will be close until Election Day. TOSS UP.
7.    House District 52 - Representative Mark Ouimet (Republican) faces Gretchen Driskell in this that covers parts of Washtenaw County. This seat has a 52% Republican base. Both sides are poised to spend significant resources here and this one will likely go down to the wire. TOSS UP.
8.    House District 110 - Representative Matt Huuki faces Democrat Scott Dianda in this seat covering the northwest portion of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This seat has a 53% Democratic base. This race is a rematch from 2010 and it appears it will be as close this time around. Polling suggests a significant switch in party affiliation in the U.P. from Democrat to Republican, but this race will be close regardless. TOSS UP.
9. House District 63 Republican Speaker of the House Jase Bolger is facing a stiff challenge from Democrat Bill Farmer who is capitalizing on the scandal involving the Speaker and Representative Roy Schmidt, who switched parties earlier this year. Democrats have spent more than $300,000 on network ads attacking Mr. Bolger for his role in the election scheme. But it is still a 57 percent GOP seat, and Mr. Farmer is unknown. That said, polling suggests that this race is too close to call. TOSS UP.
10. House District 39 - Republican Klint Kesto faces Democrat Pam Jackson in this open seat which includes West Bloomfield, Commerce and Wixom in Oakland County. This seat has a 52% Republican base. Klint Kesto is a first time candidate who won a crowded primary, while Jackson has run for office several times and lost a close contest in 2010. This is ranked as one of the top battleground open seats in the House. TOSS UP.
11. House District 67 - Republican Jeff Oesterle faces Democrat Tom Cochren in this seat covering southern Ingham County. This seat has a 52% Democratic base. Mr. Oesterle narrowly lost to incumbent Representative Barb Byrum in 2010. Recent polling suggests Mr. Oesterle has significant name identification and will likely keep this race close until the end. This race is a top target for both parties and is too close to call at the moment. TOSS UP.
12. House District 25 - Republican Sean Clark is facing off against Democrat Henry Yanez in this seat consisting portions of Sterling Heights and Warren. This seat has a 52% Democratic base. This seat is targeted by both caucuses and will likely see significant attention and resources this month. This race is too close to call at this time. TOSS UP.
13. House District 103 - Representative Bruce Rendon faces Democrat Lon Johnson in this seat that includes Kalkaska, Crawford, Missaukee, Roscommon, and Ogemaw Counties. This seat has a 56% Republican base. Both parties are spending significant resources in this race and it will likely remain close until Election Day. LEAN REPUBLICAN.
14. House District 108 - Representative Ed McBroom faces Democrat Sharon Gray in this seat covering the Southwest Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This seat has a 51% Democratic base. In 2010 Republicans won 2 of the 3 U.P. seats for the first time in decades. Polling suggests a slight advantage for Republicans this year also. Right now, Representative McBroom maintains this advantage, but it will be close on Election Day. LEAN REPUBLICAN.
15. House District 70 - Representative Rick Outman (Republican) faces a rematch versus former Representative Mike Huckleberry (Democrat) in this seat that includes Montcalm and parts of Gratiot Counties. This seat has a 57% Republican base. LEAN REPUBLICAN.
16. House District 23 - Representative Pat Somerville (Republican) pulled off a stunning victory in 2010 in a seat covering most of southern Wayne County. This seat has a 53% Democratic base. He faces Tom Boritzki in the General election, who has not garnered much favor from the Democratic establishment. Pundits have this race leaning to Somerville at this moment. LEAN REPUBLICAN.
17. House District 106 - Representative Peter Pettalia (Republican) faces Democrat Kenneth Hubbard in this seat covering Iosco, Alcona, Alpena, Presque Isle, and Cheboygan Counties. This seat has a 51% Republican base. This seat has changed hands often in the last 20 years due to the strong Democratic base in Alpena. Mr. Pettalia has been a tireless campaigner and looks to have a slight advantage over his opponent at this moment. LEAN REPUBLICAN.


Michigan Ballot Proposals:

PROPOSAL 12-1
A REFERENDUM ON PUBLIC ACT 4 OF 2011 THE EMERGENCY MANAGER LAW Public Act 4 of 2011 would:
  • Establish criteria to assess the financial condition of local government units, including school districts.
  • Authorize Governor to appoint an emergency manager (EM) upon state finding of a financial emergency, and allow the EM to act in place of local government officials.
  • Require EM to develop financial and operating plans, which may include modification or termination of contracts,reorganization of government, and determination of expenditures, services, and use of assets until the emergency is resolved.
  • Alternatively, authorize state-appointed review team to enter into a local government approved consent decree.
People Voting Yes Are Saying…

  • A “YES” vote would uphold PA 4. This law ensures the state’s ability to offer early financial intervention and assistance to schools and local governments that are struggling financially before they reach a crisis.
  • Repealing the law would impede the ability of the state to provide important tools necessary to address immediate financial crises and will put state taxpayers on the hook for these locally incurred bad debts.
  • Local governments and schools currently being helped by this law could be adversely affected by its repeal, since the emergency managers could be forced to step down resulting in a reversal of financial stability.
People Voting No Are Saying…
  • A “NO” vote would repeal PA 4. This law would give too much power and oversight to the unelected emergency managers and would undercut the authority of local elected officials.
  • The law could impose substantial costs and expenses on affected local municipalities and school districts to get out of financial distress without providing new revenues.
  • The law would give the emergency manager wide discretion to invalidate contracts and impede existing collective bargaining agreements.
PROPOSAL 12-2
A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE STATE CONSTITUTION REGARDING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
This proposal would:

Grant public and private employees the constitutional right to organize and bargain collectively through labor unions.
 
Invalidate existing or future state or local laws that limit the ability to join unions and bargain collectively, and to negotiate and enforce collective bargaining agreements, including employees’ financial support of their labor unions. Laws may be enacted to prohibit public employees from striking.

Override state laws that regulate hours and conditions of employment to the extent that those laws conflict with collective bargaining agreements.
 
Define “employer” as a person or entity employing one or more employee.

People Voting Yes Are Saying…

Protection of collective bargaining should be a constitutional right for workers to assist employees in negotiating a fair contract and to protect their rights.
 
Collective bargaining should not just be a right provided to certain employees but should be extended to all employees regardless of their employer.  
 
This proposal would protect public and private employee’s jobs, wages, and benefits by making collective bargaining a constitutional right.

People Voting No Are Saying…

This amendment would limit or eliminate the state’s ability to regulate labor activities for both public and private employees.
 
This proposal would repeal an unidentified number of existing laws affecting both employees and job providers and would have an unknown impact on this vital relationship.
 
It is unwise to lock this proposal in the Michigan Constitution as it will make it difficult in the future for elected leaders to adapt to changing conditions.

PROPOSAL 12-3
A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE STATE CONSTITUTION TO ESTABLISH A STANDARD FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY
This proposal would:

Require electric utilities to provide at least 25% of their annual retail sales of electricity from renewable energy sources, which are wind, solar, biomass, and hydropower, by 2025.

Limit to not more than 1% per year electric utility rate increases charged to consumers only to achieve compliance with the renewable energy standard.

Allow annual extensions of the deadline to meet the 25% standard in order to prevent rate increases over the 1% limit.
 
Require the legislature to enact additional laws to encourage the use of Michigan made equipment and employment of Michigan residents.

People Voting Yes Are Saying…
 
The amendment will require electricity providers to make major investments in Michigan, which will benefit the economy and create green jobs to promote clean energy.
 
The proposal protects consumers in the short term by capping rate increases caused by renewable energy regulations at1% per year.

Using clean, renewable energy will help reduce pollution and protect Michigan’s air, water, and land and help make Michigan more energy dependant.
People Voting No Are Saying…
 
Michigan consumers already pay the highest electricity rates in the Midwest and, despite the 1% annual cap on rate increases, consumers will experience long-term rate inflation until the renewable energy investments are paid off.
 
Michigan’s current energy mandate of 10% of electricity to be derived from renewable energy sources by 2015 still has not been achieved.
 
It is unwise to lock this proposal in the Michigan Constitution as it will make it difficult in the future to adapt to changing conditions and technology.
 
PROPOSAL 12-4
A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE STATE CONSTITUTION TO ESTABLISH THE MICHIGAN QUALITY HOME CARE COUNCIL AND PROVIDE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING FOR IN-HOME CARE WORKERS
 
This proposal would:
 
Allow in-home care workers to bargain collectively with the Michigan Quality Home Care Council (MQHCC). Continue the current exclusive representative of in-home care workers until modified in accordance with labor laws.
 
Require MQHCC to provide training for in-home care workers, create a registry of workers who pass background checks, and provide financial services to patients to manage the cost of in-home care.
 
Preserve patients’ rights to hire in-home care workers who are not referred from the MQHCC registry who are bargaining unit members.
 
Authorize the MQHCC to set minimum compensation standards and terms and conditions of employment.

People Voting Yes Are Saying…
 
The proposal would provide in-home care workers a constitutional right to collective bargaining.

The Michigan Quality Home Care Council would provide training, background checks and a registry of in-home care workers which elderly and disabled persons may choose to hire for daily living assistance.

Would protect the authority, duties and obligations of the current Michigan Quality Community Care Council to provide access to well-trained in-home care workers.
 
People Voting No Are Saying…
These services are already available and could force terms of employment, such as joining a union and paying union dues, on in-home care workers, including relatives of the patient.
 
While all in-home care workers are directly employed by the elderly and disabled persons in need of services, they would be treated as public employees for the sole purpose of unionization.
 
It is unwise to lock this proposal in the Michigan Constitution as it will make it difficult in the future to update its provision to address changing conditions.
 
PROPOSAL 12-5
 
A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE STATE CONSTITUTION TO LIMIT THE ENACTMENT OF NEW TAXES BY STATE GOVERNMENT
 
This proposal would:
 
Require a 2/3 majority vote of the State House and the State Senate, or a statewide vote of the people at a November election, in order for the State of Michigan to impose new or additional taxes on taxpayers or expand the base of taxation or increasing the rate of taxation.
 
This section shall in no way be construed to limit or modify tax limitations otherwise created in this Constitution.
 
People Voting Yes Are Saying…
 
This proposal would require a 2/3 majority vote of both the House and Senate or statewide vote of the people to enact tax increases.
 
The higher threshold for raising taxes would make it harder to impose new or additional taxes, expand the tax base, or increase tax rates.
 
The two most recent tax increases in Michigan were passed with support from only a slim majority of the Legislature.
 
Had this proposal been in place, it is likely that neither of these increases could have been passed by the Legislature.

People Voting No Are Saying…
 
This proposal would limit the Legislature’s ability to balance the state budget; and could result in funding cuts to education, public safety, or infrastructure projects.
 
This proposal would have no impact on current tax rates and could impede future tax reform for individuals and job providers.
 
It is unwise to lock this proposal in the Michigan Constitution as it will make it difficult in the future to update its provision to address changing conditions.
 
PROPOSAL 12-6
 
A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE STATE CONSTITUTION REGARDING CONSTRUCTION OF INTERNATIONAL BRIDGES AND TUNNELS
This proposal would:
Require the approval of a majority of voters at a statewide election and in each municipality where “new international bridges or tunnels for motor vehicles” are to be located before the State of Michigan may expend state funds or resources for acquiring land, designing, soliciting bids for, constructing, financing, or promoting new international bridges or tunnels.
 
Create a definition of “new international bridges or tunnels for motor vehicles” that means, “any bridge or tunnel which is not open to the public and serving traffic as of January 1, 2012.”
 
People Voting Yes Are Saying…
Citizens should have the right to decide if the State should undertake major international bridges or tunnel projects for motor vehicles due to the possibility of ongoing taxpayer-funded expenses.
 
It is unclear if there is sufficient traffic to support the building of a second international bridge in Southeast Michigan and the State should not be in competition with a private entity.
 
This proposal may put the current Michigan-Canadian bridge project before the Michigan voters for their approval or rejection.
 
People Voting No Are Saying…
 
Given the traffic volume in Southeast Michigan, a second international bridge is critical for economic development and job creation in our state and will be paid for by Canadian funds and not state tax dollars.
 
The international bridge project agreement between Michigan and Canada may be exempt from the restrictions of this proposal.
 
It is unwise to lock this proposal in the Michigan Constitution as it will make it difficult in the future for elected leaders to adapt to changing conditions.
For those interested on how to get involved go to http://www.mdpac.org to find more information.