STATE OF MICHIGAN
Journal of the Senate
101st Legislature
REGULAR SESSION OF 2022
Senate Chamber, Lansing, Tuesday, January 18, 2022.
10:00 a.m.
The Senate was called to order by the President pro tempore, Senator Aric Nesbitt.
The roll was called by the Secretary of the Senate, who announced that a quorum was present.
Alexander—present Horn—present Polehanki—present
Ananich—present Huizenga—present Runestad—present
Barrett—present Irwin—present Santana—present
Bayer—present Johnson—present Schmidt—present
Bizon—present LaSata—present Shirkey—present
Brinks—present Lauwers—present Stamas—present
Bullock—present MacDonald—present Theis—present
Bumstead—present McBroom—present VanderWall—present
Chang—present McCann—present Victory—present
Daley—present McMorrow—present Wojno—present
Geiss—present Moss—present Wozniak—present
Hertel—present Nesbitt—present Zorn—present
Hollier—present Outman—present
Senator Dale W. Zorn of the 17th District offered the following invocation:
Lord, we come to You this morning asking for Your help in the work that we do here in this building—that we may be able to provide those who are in need the help that they so much come to us for. I ask that You stay with our first responders, our military, and those families in this state who are trying to succeed. I pray that You will help this chamber work together and to provide the services that are desperately needed. Stay with us today, as always. Amen.
The President pro tempore, Senator Nesbitt, led the members of the Senate in recital of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Motions and Communications
The motion prevailed.
Senator Lauwers moved that Senator McBroom be temporarily excused from today’s session.
The motion prevailed.
The following communication was received and read:
Office of the Auditor General
January 12, 2022
Enclosed is a copy of the following report:
• Performance audit report on the Administration of Act 51-Related Funds, Michigan Department of Transportation (591-0410-21).
Sincerely,
Doug Ringler
Auditor General
The audit report was referred to the Committee on Oversight.
The following communication was received:
Office of Senator Sean McCann
January 12, 2022
I respectfully request that my name be added as a co-sponsor to the following:
• Senate Bill 797, introduced by Senator Chang
• Senate Bill 798, introduced by Senator Geiss
• Senate Bill 799, introduced by Senator Hollier
• Senate Bill 800, introduced by Senator Wojno
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact my office. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Sean McCann
State Senator
20th District
The communication was referred to the Secretary for record.
The following communication was received:
Department of Natural Resources
January 13, 2022
In accordance with Section 1906(2) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451, as amended, attached is the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) 2021 Annual Report on the operations of the Board.
If you need further information, please contact Mr. Erik Eklund, Chief, Finance and Operations Division, at 517-284-5958, or you may contact me.
Sincerely,
Daniel Eichinger
Director
The communication was referred
to the Secretary for record.
The following communication was received:
State Court Administrative Office
January 14, 2022
Pursuant to the annual reporting requirement contained in Executive Order 2021-5, please find the attached year-end report from the Jail Reform Advisory Council on the implementation of jail reform legislation and measurable outcomes.
Thank you,
Ryan P. Gamby
Field Services Director
The communication was referred to the Secretary for record.
Recess
Senator Lauwers moved that the Senate recess subject to the call of the Chair.
The motion prevailed, the time being 10:05 a.m.
The Senate was called to order by the President pro tempore, Senator Nesbitt.
During the recess, Senators McBroom, Ananich, Hertel, Geiss and Santana entered the Senate Chamber.
By unanimous consent the Senate proceeded to the order of
Introduction and Referral of Bills
A bill to amend 1980 PA 299, entitled “Occupational code,” by amending sections 303a and 601 (MCL 339.303a and 339.601), section 303a as amended by 2014 PA 265 and section 601 as amended by 2016 PA 412, and by adding article 14.
The bill was read a first and second time by title and referred to the Committee on Regulatory Reform.
Senator Wozniak introduced
A bill to amend 1956 PA 218, entitled “The insurance code of 1956,” by amending sections 3151 and 3153 (MCL 500.3151 and 500.3153), section 3151 as amended by 2019 PA 22, and by adding section 3151a.
The bill was read a first and second time by title and referred to the Committee on Insurance and Banking.
Senator Wozniak introduced
A bill to amend 1956 PA 218, entitled “The insurance code of 1956,” by amending section 3151 (MCL 500.3151), as amended by 2019 PA 22.
The bill was read a first and second time by title and referred to the Committee on Insurance and Banking.
Senators Runestad, Johnson, Wozniak, Theis, Daley, Barrett, Victory, Bumstead, Zorn, Huizenga and VanderWall introduced
A bill to amend 1976 PA 267, entitled “Open meetings act,” by amending section 2 (MCL 15.262), as amended by 2001 PA 38.
The bill was read a first and second time by title and referred to the Committee on Oversight.
Senators Johnson, Runestad, Wozniak, Theis, Daley, Barrett, Victory, Bumstead, Zorn, Huizenga and VanderWall introduced
A bill to amend 1976 PA 442, entitled “Freedom of information act,” by amending section 2 (MCL 15.232), as amended by 2018 PA 68.
The bill was read a first and second time by title and
referred to the Committee on Oversight.
By unanimous consent the Senate returned to the order of
General Orders
The motion prevailed, and the President pro tempore, Senator Nesbitt, designated Senator Horn as Chairperson.
After some time spent therein, the Committee arose; and the President pro tempore, Senator Nesbitt, having resumed the Chair, the Committee reported back to the Senate, favorably and without amendment, the following bills:
House Bill No. 5322, entitled
A bill to amend 1933 PA 167, entitled “General sales tax act,” by amending sections 12 and 18 (MCL 205.62 and 205.68), section 12 as amended by 2018 PA 167 and section 18 as amended by 2014 PA 108.
A bill to amend 1937 PA 94, entitled “Use tax act,” by amending sections 14a and 14b (MCL 205.104a and 205.104b), section 14a as amended by 2014 PA 109 and section 14b as amended by 2018 PA 168.
The bills were placed on the order of Third Reading of Bills.
By unanimous consent the Senate returned to the order of
Third Reading of Bills
Senator Lauwers moved that the Senate proceed to consideration of the following bill:
House Bill No. 4363
The motion prevailed.
The following bill was read a third time:
House Bill No. 4363, entitled
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled “Natural resources and environmental protection act,” by amending sections 2104, 2132, and 2165 (MCL 324.2104, 324.2132, and 324.2165), sections 2104 and 2132 as amended by 2018 PA 238 and section 2165 as added by 2018 PA 240.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows:
Roll Call No. 2 Yeas—38
Alexander Geiss McBroom Schmidt
Ananich Hertel McCann Shirkey
Barrett Hollier McMorrow Stamas
Bayer Horn Moss Theis
Bizon Huizenga Nesbitt VanderWall
Brinks Irwin Outman Victory
Bullock Johnson Polehanki Wojno
Bumstead LaSata Runestad Wozniak
Chang Lauwers Santana Zorn
Daley MacDonald
Nays—0
Excused—0
Not Voting—0
In The Chair: Nesbitt
Pursuant to Joint Rule 20, the full title of the act shall be inserted to read as follows:
“An act to protect the environment and natural resources of the state; to codify, revise, consolidate, and classify laws relating to the environment and natural resources of the state; to regulate the discharge of certain substances into the environment; to regulate the use of certain lands, waters, and other natural resources of the state; to protect the people’s right to hunt and fish; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state and local agencies and officials; to provide for certain charges, fees, assessments, and donations; to provide certain appropriations; to prescribe penalties and provide remedies; and to repeal acts and parts of acts,”
The Senate agreed to the full title.
The following bill was read a third time:
House Bill No. 4035, entitled
A bill to amend 1994 PA 451, entitled “Natural resources and environmental protection act,” by amending section 2150 (MCL 324.2150), as amended by 2012 PA 603.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows:
Roll Call No. 3 Yeas—38
Alexander Geiss McBroom Schmidt
Ananich Hertel McCann Shirkey
Barrett Hollier McMorrow Stamas
Bayer Horn Moss Theis
Bizon Huizenga Nesbitt VanderWall
Brinks Irwin Outman Victory
Bullock Johnson Polehanki Wojno
Bumstead LaSata Runestad Wozniak
Chang Lauwers Santana Zorn
Daley MacDonald
Nays—0
Excused—0
Not Voting—0
In The Chair: Nesbitt
The question being on concurring in the committee recommendation to give the bill immediate effect,
The recommendation was concurred in, 2/3 of the members serving voting therefor.
Pursuant to Joint Rule 20, the full title of the act shall be inserted to read as follows:
“An act to protect the environment and natural resources of the state; to codify, revise, consolidate, and classify laws relating to the environment and natural resources of the state; to regulate the discharge of certain substances into the environment; to regulate the use of certain lands, waters, and other natural resources of the state; to protect the people’s right to hunt and fish; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state and local agencies and officials; to provide for certain charges, fees, assessments, and donations; to provide certain appropriations; to prescribe penalties and provide remedies; and to repeal acts and parts of acts,”
The Senate agreed to the full title.
The following bill was read a third time:
House Bill No. 4031, entitled
A bill to amend 1974 PA 154, entitled “Michigan occupational safety and health act,” by amending section 35 (MCL 408.1035), as amended by 1991 PA 105.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows:
Roll Call No. 4 Yeas—29
Alexander Johnson Moss Stamas
Barrett LaSata Nesbitt Theis
Bayer Lauwers Outman VanderWall
Bizon MacDonald Polehanki Victory
Bumstead McBroom Runestad Wojno
Daley McCann Schmidt Wozniak
Horn McMorrow Shirkey Zorn
Huizenga
Nays—9
Ananich Chang Hertel Irwin
Brinks Geiss Hollier Santana
Bullock
Excused—0
Not Voting—0
In The Chair: Nesbitt
The question being on concurring in the committee recommendation to give the bill immediate effect,
The recommendation was not concurred in, 2/3 of the members serving not voting therefor.
Pursuant to Joint Rule 20, the full title of the act shall be inserted to read as follows:
“An act to prescribe and regulate working conditions; to prescribe the duties of employers and employees as to places and conditions of employment; to create certain boards, commissions, committees, and divisions relative to occupational and construction health and safety; to prescribe their powers and duties and powers and duties of the department of labor and department of public health; to prescribe certain powers and duties of the directors of the departments of labor, public health, and agriculture; to impose an annual levy to provide revenue for the safety education and training division; to provide remedies and penalties; to repeal certain acts and parts of acts; and to repeal certain acts and parts of act on specific dates,”
The Senate agreed to the full title.
By unanimous consent the Senate proceeded to the order of
Statements
The motion prevailed.
Senator Moss’ statement is as follows:
This may have been a blip on your weekend radar but it is a seismic activity in our Jewish community. Yet again, an attack on an American synagogue. Yet again, another trauma suffered by American Jews. Most immediately, the trauma in the Jewish community of Colleyville, but which also ripples throughout the Jewish community in the rest of the country.
A synagogue sanctuary should be just that—a sanctuary from fear and terror where Jews can worship freely—but that’s not always the reality. I was on the board of my synagogue in Oakland County. During our most attended religious services throughout the year, we have armed security present on campus—like many synagogues in our region and country—and the reason the Texas standoff ended was because Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker had active shooter training due to increased threats to synagogues in our country. This has become an unfortunate norm as Jewish people are increasingly vulnerable.
We “are just 2% of the U.S. population and 0.2% of the world’s population,” journalist Yair Rosenberg puts it. “It actually takes a lot of effort to even find us. But every year in Western countries, including America, Jews are the #1 target of anti-religious hate crimes.” Indeed the most recent FBI data in 2020 show that we are the target of 58 percent of religiously motivated hate crimes in the country. 2 percent of the population; 58 percent of the attacks. This is a problem. This is a problem we cannot ignore. Antisemitism thrives when it’s failed to be called antisemitism.
What can we do? In many regards the infrastructure to take on antisemitism is there but it’s just ignored or dismissed or set aside. We have a hate crimes statute here in the state of Michigan but it lacks resources for enforcement, and we must fully fulfill budget requests from the Attorney General to support her office’s hate crimes unit. It has been scrutinized, underfunded since she established it, and we must take this request and other security funding requests seriously.
On the federal level, we must call on the U.S. Senate to confirm President Biden’s nominee of Dr. Deborah Lipstadt as the country’s next Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism. She is truly the foremost expert in our community on this topic. The essential work of this post has existed for several administrations, but has been left dormant for these last crucial six months because of petty political games in Washington. Meanwhile, it’s only Jews who suffer the consequences.
Ultimately, the most important thing you can do is to listen to Jews. Listen to Jews in distress. We live this. I’m part of the National Association of Jewish Legislators and last year we had a Zoom conference and virtual program on the state of antisemitism in this country. There are words and phrases and actions that polling data show that Jews perceive as antisemitic even when non-Jews might not. Listen to us; hear us.
I know that the center of the Jewish population is in and around my district and in the rest of metro Detroit, but many of you in the rest of the state have small and proud synagogues in your districts. Reach out to the rabbi. Visit with them. Connect them with the local chief of police or sheriff to find out what their needs are. Jews just want to be Jews. We want to be proud about who we are. We want to display how proud we are of our religious values. But all of these security and safety challenges prevent us from being the welcoming people we want to be. I ask you to please listen to us and be our allies in this struggle.
Senator Irwin’s statement is as follows:
I rise again today to remind my colleagues that as we meet in the Senate today, our sibling body in the House of Representatives is not meeting. They’re not meeting because of the high rate of transmission and, in fact, infection of members from COVID-19. I just want to point out to my colleagues again that as the House of Representatives is not meeting, our local governments are being required to meet and this body is failing to act on legislation that can provide our local bodies the opportunity to meet virtually for a little longer.
Our local bodies need the same flexibility that the State House of Representatives is currently exercising, and it’s not just our elected city councils and our elected county commissions and township boards. It’s also all sorts of volunteer boards. Right now in every one of our communities, we have local community action boards that are required to have consumers of mental health services and disabled members on those boards to provide guidance and counsel to the locals who are making decisions about the disbursement of those community action fund dollars. Why are we forcing these people into a dangerous situation to serve their community? Why are we telling people who want to just volunteer to participate in their local democracy that they have to do so in a room that might be filled with a dangerous respiratory virus? This is unnecessary. We could easily pass a temporary extension of the allowance for remote meetings and I think the fact that the House of Representatives is not even meeting—had to cancel their meeting—is just another demonstration of the necessity of this action.
Please, I
implore my colleagues, to all reach out to your fellow members and say now is the
time to extend the opportunity for virtual meetings again. We have a surge
right now. We have a high level of transmission. Let’s at least do this
temporarily so that these volunteers and these local elected officials can have
the same flexibility.
Senator Ananich’s statement is as follows:
Unfortunately, this happens to all of us at times, I’ve had to do a number of memorials to good friends and people of importance to me, and to my community. In the last few weeks I’ve had two very close friends, a guy named Randy Piper and a guy named Tony Palladeno—and they are literally polar opposites of each other, there’s no way for me to do a memorial for both of them today so I am going to start with Randy Piper. The only one in this chamber who might know him or know of him might be my colleague the Majority Leader because of the time he spent in Flint. He may not remember him but if he did he would have liked him.
I grew up with his son Jeremy, spending summers up north at my cousin’s place and his place, and I got to know Randy and at the time his wife Karen very well. As a matter of just sort of a coincidence, my in-laws bought the house that Randy grew up in and we bought the house from my in-laws. As we were taking down wallpapering in the house—for those that knew Randy this would come at no surprise, but it may give some people in this chamber on both sides a laugh—we ripped down the wallpaper and on the wall was the name Randy, he actually wrote his name on the wall of his room when he was growing up. And over—actually last week when he passed—his brother Chuck was in town from Portland and asked if he could come look at the house, and I was home and I showed him around and showed him where his brother wrote his name, and he told me about the house and all the fun memories they had. What I think a really interesting, pretty cool story as he grew up in the house—I think his family were the first owners, I believe—and next door was a family named the Rundells, and they lived there even when my wife was growing up in the house. Well, the Rundells had a daughter named Karen and it is literally a story you could see in a movie where Randy and Karen met in high school, and probably even before then, and dated, and he truly found his first love.
When you have marriage goals there are certain people you emulate and certain people you don’t, well Randy and Karen were the kind of people you wanted to look back and say I would have loved to have a marriage like those two did. A number of years ago—I believe it was 2005, I’m looking through the obituary here—the date isn’t that important but Karen succumbed to cancer, and Randy, Lauren, Jeremy, and Katie, his daughters and son, all were—I can’t describe the way they looked and I can only imagine the way they felt when their mom, their rock, died. And some people are fortunate enough to have one true love, some never have that, Randy was able to find a second true love and honestly I saw him with Susie, and the family embraced her in a way that was truly remarkable and she really completed the second part of his life. The first part with Karen, the second part with Susie.
He had tremendous stories and he always had a great one-liner. He loved, and this is going to sound corny, he truly loved his country and he loved the Fourth of July. He’d have a great story about America or some historical piece that was fun to hear and when I talked to him alone he’d always have good advice and he would always get into these legendary debates at a bar—that is a Mexican restaurant now—called the Bailiwick. He was conservative, the gentleman was sort of more liberal, and they would sit and have these legendary arguments and lawyers from all around the city, and other people—I was there a number of times—would come and have a meal with him and listen to these two just go back and forth. What was amazing about Randy was he was conservative as they came, and the gentleman—I can’t think of his name right now, I wish I had it—was as liberal as they came, and at that debate you would see them go at each other but after that debate they were the best of friends and it was the most fun thing to watch. You really got to see two opposing philosophies debate in a respectful and actually fun way.
I know what Randy’s passing did to Jeremy, to Katie, to Lauren, and truthfully to the in-laws, he was like a father to them as well. When he got married the second time, Jeremy’s youngest son Teddy was the best man, at one year old. It was a pretty unique experience to see.
I’m going to wrap it up now because I appreciate the pausing of time, much like I think Jeremy, and Lauren, and Katie would have loved to have paused time, but they had an amazing amount of stories, histories, and love that was shared both ways, back and forth. As much as they would have loved more time, I don’t think you can look back on a family that laughed more together, that cried more together, and enjoyed each other more than the Pipers did. I just wanted to take a moment to say I hope Randy Penn Piper rests in peace and that he gets to rejoin Karen, and someday Susie will go up there as well, and hopefully that’s not an awkward experience, but I have to believe that Karen would have loved that Susie took care of Randy while she was waiting for him. God bless.
Announcements of Printing and Enrollment
Senate Bill Nos. 797 798 799 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814
Senate Resolution No. 101
House Bill Nos. 5664 5665
COMMITTEE ATTENDANCE REPORT
The Committee on Oversight submitted the following:
Joint meeting held on Thursday, January 13, 2022, at 10:30 a.m., Harry T. Gast Appropriations Room, 3rd Floor, Capitol Building
Present: Senators McBroom (C), Theis, Bizon, Wozniak, Irwin and Chang
Advice and Consent – Thursday, January 20, 12:00 noon, Room 1300, Binsfeld Office Building (517) 373‑5314
Elections – Wednesday, January 19, 2:00 p.m., Room 1300, Binsfeld Office Building (517) 373-5323
Energy and Technology – Tuesdays, January 25, 2:00 p.m., Harry T. Gast Appropriations Room, 3rd Floor, Capitol Building and February 1, 2:00 p.m., Senate Hearing Room, Ground Floor, Boji Tower (517) 373‑1721
Finance – Wednesday, January 19, 12:30 p.m., Room 1200, Binsfeld Office Building (517) 373-5312
Health Policy and Human Services – Thursday, January 20, 1:00 p.m., Room 1100, Binsfeld Office Building (517) 373-5323
Local Government – Thursday, January 20, 1:30 p.m., Room 1200, Binsfeld Office Building (517) 373‑5312
Senator LaSata moved that the Senate adjourn.
The motion prevailed, the time being 11:12 a.m.
The President pro tempore, Senator Nesbitt, declared the Senate adjourned until Wednesday, January 19, 2022, at 10:00 a.m.
MARGARET O’BRIEN
Secretary of the Senate