LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Senate wrapped up a 29-hour bill-passing spree Friday afternoon.
“At this point, only legislation that’s already been passed by the House can become law,” Bridge Michigan Capitol Reporter Lauren Gibbons said.
It’s a win for Senate Democrats who saw their counterparts in the House struggle in the final days to be a united front amid a Republican boycott of the session.
The House adjourned Thursday (Dec. 19) afternoon after House Speaker Joe Tate unsuccessfully tried to force missing members to come to session, including Democratic State Representative Karen Whitsett.
House Democrats failed to reach a quorum to move on any legislation.
It was the last chance for House Democrats to act before Republicans take the majority next term.
“Certainly, we’ve seen fights and staged walkouts and things like that when there’s divided government. But the idea that Democrats had complete control of Lansing and again, only for the first time in 40 years, and to have it end in this way,” Michigan Public Political Director Zoe Clark said.
During the marathon session that began Thursday morning Senate Democrats pass legislation involving school safety, gun safe storage information, tougher penalties for hate crimes and easing access to birth control.
The Senate also approved a millage option for the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Detroit Historical Society.
The House has already approved the bills, which will head to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s desk.
The governor’s presence, or the lack thereof, has been the subject of conversations at the State Capitol.
“It sounds as though she took a rather hands-off approach,” Gibbons said.
“There are others that say it’s not her clown car, not her circus, that this was Speaker Joe Tate to take care of. And what would she have been able to do anyway,” Clark said.
The governor’s team say she has been engaged, citing conversations with Democratic leaders in the House and Senate.
“With a Democratic majority for the first time in 40 years, together we cut taxes by $1 billion for working families and seniors, secured good paying jobs and investments that grow the economy, and saw record low unemployment rates.
We worked to lower costs by making record investments in education, including free school breakfast and lunch for every public-school student, expanded access to free preschool, and invested in housing so more people have an affordable, safe place to call home.”
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
The governor also said she looks forward to working alongside the incoming House.
“The big question is what happens next year when we see Governor Whitmer enter her last two years and see the House leadership change over. Republican Matt Hall will take the speaker’s gavel, and we’ll see how the governor, Matt Hall, and the Democratic majority Senate all work together and whether they can get much done,” Gibbons said.
The new legislative term begins Jan. 8.