January 31, 2014, MichiganVotes Weekly Vote Report

Senate Bill 273: Impose licensure on "psychological associates": Passed 34 to 3 in the Senate

To impose licensure and regulation on "psychological associates," with license fees, continuing education mandates, a mandate to have accumulated 6,000 hours of experience prior to being eligible for a license, and other requirements imposed on potential new entrants to this profession by a board of existing practitioners.

Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"

Senate Bill 711, Extend Cobo sales tax exemption: Passed 34 to 1 in the Senate

To extend for another two years the 2014 sunset on a law that exempts from sales tax the purchase of tools and equipment by a contractor if these are used to fix or renovate Cobo Hall in Detroit.

Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"

Other newsworthy legislative developments

The Senate Finance Committee voted on party lines to approve Senate Bill 402, which would gradually roll back a 2007 income tax increase until the rate returns to 3.9 percent in 2017, down from the current 4.25 percent rate. According to the Senate Fiscal Agency, when fully phased in this would save taxpayers around $850 million annually. The bill is now pending before the full Senate.

In the House, House Bills 5265 to 5267 were introduced to cut the current 4.25 percent rate to 4.05 percent in 2016, and then reduce it by 0.1 percent each year, but only if in the previous year this tax has taken in at least $300 million more than it did the year before. The chairman of the House Tax Policy committee, who also is the sponsor of HB 5267, said he plans a committee vote on the bills by the end of February.

Another House committee approved House Bill 5108, which would repeal a state law that bans ticket "scalping" at sports and entertainment events. The bill is now pending before the full House.

SOURCE: MichiganVotes.org, a free, non-partisan website created by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, providing concise, non-partisan, plain-English descriptions of every bill and vote in the Michigan House and Senate. Please visit https://www.michiganvotes.org.

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