The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Monday with Senate Democrats that nine bills held in the Republican-controlled House should go to Governor Gretchen Whitmer because they were adopted by both chambers of the Legislature.
The bills were adopted last year while the Legislature was entirely under Democratic control, but some bills were not sent to Whitmer before Republicans took control of the House in January. House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) ordered the clerk to hold onto the bills because, he said, the new majority was not obligated to wrap up business left unfinished by the former Democratic majority.
The appeals court panel ruled that transmitting the bills is not discretionary but required by the Michigan Constitution. That aligns with a decision by a Michigan Court of Claims judge. But in that decision, Judge Sima Patel declined to issue an order for the House to release the bills due to concerns about violating separation of powers.
The appeals court returned the case to the Court of Claims with an instruction that the judicial branch has the authority to issue an enforcement order.
“The question here involves the interpretation of the rules and requirements imposed by our Constitution,” wrote Judge Thomas Cameron, who was named to the court by Republican Governor Rick Snyder. “The fact that the entity subject to these rules is the Legislature does not change the fact that the rule at issue is one imposed by our Constitution—the interpretation of which, absent exceptions not present here, falls to the judiciary.”
Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids), who filed the lawsuit, cheered the ruling as a victory for the rule of law.
“At a time when Republican leaders across the country are breaking the law and getting away with it, this is a particularly meaningful win,” she said in an emailed statement. “No matter how deep our political differences, the Constitution must be followed. Skirting the law is bad enough, but it’s so much worse that they did it in the name of stopping bills that would have helped thousands of their constituents make ends meet.
The bills include measures to exempt public assistance payments from debt collection, allow Detroit historical museums to seek voter approval of a millage, and place corrections officers in the same pension system as Michigan State Police officers.
A spokesperson for the House Speaker did not have a comment. Hall could appeal the decision to the Michigan Supreme Court.
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