Salary Cap for Public School Employees
NEXT: Bill goes to Senate for consideration
This bill prohibits the board of a school district or board of directors of a public school academy from providing any new employee, including superintendents, with a total compensation package that exceeds the salary of the Governor (currently $177,000). The bill would also exclude from the compensation packages provided any school employee, fringe benefits such as motor vehicles, payment or reimbursement for social, golf or country club memberships.
Eliminate Lifetime Healthcare for Legislators
NEXT: Bill goes to Senate for consideration
This bill woul end the post-retirement health care insurance coverage provided to legislators. Under current law, former legislators who have served six years get full health coverage beginning at age 55. This bill only applies to future legislators.
Michigan Business Tax
NEXT: Bill is returned to the Senate for consideration with new Substitute
This bill creates a new Michigan Business Tax to replace the Single Business Tax that will end at the end of this year. The new Michigan Business Tax would impose an income and a net worth tax on businesses and provide tax relief for personal property owners. The tax will lower the tax burden on the majority of Michigan businesses by providing credits for businesses that hire Michigan workers, invest in the state, or do research and development activities in the state. The new business tax also provides relief for small businesses by lowering the tax rate (from the SBT), exempting businesses with less than $350,000 in gross receipts, and phasing in the tax for small businesses with up to $700,000 in gross receipts. Additionally, the new tax retains many tax credits and economic development incentives from the SBT such as the MEGA tax credits, Brownfield credits, and Renaissance zones.
Securitization of Tobacco Funds
NEXT: Goes to Senate for consideration.
This bill would allow for additional tobacco settlement fund money to be securitized in order to help stabilize the budget by pulling down more money for the state's General Fund. This bill along with HB 4851 allows a transfer of money to avoid a cut to current year public school funding.
Higher Education Loan Authority Fund Transfer
NEXT: Goes to Senate for consideration\
This bill would allow the Michigan Higher Education Student Loan Authority to transfer money to the Merit Award Trust Fund for any scholarship program (or the Tuition Incentive Program) fund. This bill along with HB 4850 allows a transfer of money to avoid a cut to current year public school funding.
Negative Supplemental
SB 436 (Jelinek), Passed 69-37
The House passed a negative supplemental that cut over $317 million for the remainder of the 2007 fiscal year. Notable cuts include delaying payments to universities ($69.3 million), a delayed payment to community colleges ($12.9), and cutting operating cuts for universities ($25.9 million). Details for all of the cuts can be found at: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2007-2008/billanalysis/House/pdf/2007-HLA-0436-4.pdf
and
http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2007-2008/billanalysis/Senate/pdf/2007-SFA-0436-E.pdf
End Double Dipping for State Employees
NEXT: Bill goes to Senate for consideration
The bill would amend the State Employees' Retirement Act to freeze pension benefits for retired state employees who become re-employed by the state.
End Double Dipping for Public School Employees
NEXT: Bill sent to Senate for consideration
This bill would require that the pension of a retired school employee who becomes employed again by a school as a contract employee, either directly or indirectly be suspended. The pension remains frozen during the period of employment. The bill would allow rehires to keep collecting their pensions, while also collecting wages, if they go back to work for a school as a direct rehire in a critical shortage situation.
Protect Register of Deed Documents from Identity Theft
NEXT: Bills go to Senate for consideration.
This package of bills prohibits documents filed with a countyRegister of Deeds office from containing complete social security numbers, with certain exceptions. The bills also allow a Register of Deeds to remove or obscure all but the last four digits of a social security number on copies of documents provided by the office. Finally, the bills allow individuals to request that all but the last four digits of their social security number be removed or obscured from copies of documents maintained by the register of deeds. These measures are meant to protect citizens from identity theft as many Registers of Deeds are making records easily available online.
Consolidation of School District Services
NEXT: Bill goes to the Senate for consideration
This bill would require that the board of a school district conduct a study concerning opportunities for sharing services with other providers of similar services, such as the intermediate school districts, other units of local government, or other programs designed to achieve cost savings. There were two amendments offered:
Representative Moolenaar offered an amendment that would have required schools to include employee healthcare benefits in the consolidation studies. The amendment failed 44-65.
Representative Emmons offered an amendment that would have required school districts to consider privatizing services in addition to consolidating services. The amendment failed 46-62.
Facilitate Consolidation of Local Governments
NEXT: Bills go to the Senate for consideration
These two bills clarify that when two local governments consolidate services, the employee protections contained in the act do not require that all employees' compensation rise to that of the highest compensation level prior to the consolidation.
Election Consolidation
NEXT: Both bills go to the Senate for consideration
These two bills would move all local school board elections to November.
Consolidate and Centralize State Government
The resolution expresses support for the Governor's proposal to consolidate and centralize state internal auditing and internal control system functions within the Department of Management and Budget.
Continue to Collect Fee for Baseline Environmental Assessments
NEXT: Bill ordered Enrolled and then presented to the Governor
The bill extends the sunset date from June 5, 2007 to June 5, 2017, for the $750 fee paid to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to evaluate a petition for liability protection based on a baseline environmental assessment (BEA). A property purchaser typically performs a BEA for a property that may have contamination to evaluate the extent of contamination existing at the property, if any, upon a purchaser taking ownership. The purchaser then may petition the DEQ to make a determination that he or she will not be liable for existing contamination and that the proposed use of the property satisfies the purchaser's obligation to prevent the exacerbation of any existing contamination. The fee covers most of the DEQ's costs for making the determination and generates about $225,000 annually. If the sunset is not extended, the DEQ would still be required to perform these duties under existing law, but would not be reimbursed for the costs.
Extend Road Project Grant Sunset
NEXT: Goes to the Senate for consideration
The bill extends until from September 30, 2007 to April 4, 2008 the deadline for local governments to apply for grants for road projects that are eligible for funding through certain federal matching fund programs.
Sentencing Guideline Revisions
NEXT: House passed version returns to Senate for consideration.
This bill eliminates conflicts in sentencing guidelines between statutory law and court rules.
Retirement Revaluation
NEXT: Goes to Senate for consideration.
This bill would allow for a one-time actuarial revaluation of both the State Employees and the State Police Retirement System's assets to their actual market value as of September 30, 2006 instead of doing a five year smoothed valuation. The five year smoothing would begin again in FY 2007-08.
Lease between State of Michigan and StateBuilding Authority for DMB Facility
These two House Concurrent Resolutions approve leases between the State of Michigan and the State Building Authority relative to the Department of Management and Budget State Facility Preservation Projects-Phase I and II Group B General Office Building Renovations and Group C Grand Rapids State Office Building Renovations.
Extend Jobs Today Sunset
Next: Bill returns to the Senate for concurrence with new substitute
This bill extends the deadline for local governments to apply for state money from the Jobs Today program that the local governments can use to cover the 20 percent local match required for certain federal matching road construction funding programs.
Qualified Deaf and Deaf-Blind Interpreters
Next: Both bills are returned to the Senate with new substitute
These two bills amend the Deaf Persons' Interpreters Act to require appointing authorities to provide qualified interpreters for deaf and deaf-blind individuals. The bill also establishes penalties for interpreters who misrepresent themselves as interpreters and for appointing authorities who violate the act.
Strict Discipline Academies
Next: Bill returned to Senate for enrollment and presentation to the Governor
This bill would allow the Department of Human Services to operate a "strict discipline academy," which is a type of school for children expelled from regular schools, and clarify that the funding comes from the School Aid Fund, per a recent funding source transfer.
Multi-Departmental Supplemental Appropriations Bill
Next: Bill goes to Senate for consideration
This bill is a multi-department supplemental appropriations bill for the departments of Human Services, Corrections, Community Health, Natural Resources, Environmental Quality, State Police, and other state departments. The overwhelming majority of the supplemental appropriations in the bill are from non-General Fund sources.
Waive License Fee for Bankruptcy Sales
Next: Bill is sent to the Senate for consideration
This bill would allow a local government to waive the license fees required for certain "going out of business sale" retailing events in cases where the event really is the result of a bankruptcy.
Additional Principal Residence Exemption
Next: Bill is sent to Senate for consideration
This bill would allow a homeowner to claim an additional principal residence exemption for a house that they are trying to sell, as long as that home is not occupied, and was previously exempt as their principal residence.
Cormorant Control
Next: Bills sent to Senate for Consideration
Taken together, these three bills require the DNR to manage and control the cormorant population in cooperation with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and a regional organization recognized by the Federal government. The bills also create the Cormorant Control Fund within the Department of Natural Resources. The fund would be restricted for use to implement regional cormorant control efforts.