Now with one click you can approve or disapprove of key votes by your legislators using the VoteSpotter smart phone app. Visit Votespotter.com and download VoteSpotter today!

Senate Bill 233, Revise vehicle trade in tax break detail: Passed 37 to 1 in the Senate

To revise a 2013 law that exempts from sales tax the value of a trade-in when buying a motor vehicle, titled watercraft or recreational vehicle, so that it also applies to purchases made from out of state dealers. Under the 2013 law the tax exemption will supposedly be phased in over 24 years.

Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No”

House Bill 4325, Establish overspending public school “early warning system”: Passed 60 to 49 in the House

To require school districts to submit their annual budget projections and assumptions to the state each July, and require intermediate school districts to declare whether they concur with the projections and assumptions. Non-concurrence would trigger a detailed reporting and oversight process. The intention of this and related bills is to create an “early warning system” for school districts with financial problems.

Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No”

House Bill 4328, Authorize withholding state money from overspending school districts: Passed 58 to 51 in the House

To give the Department of Treasury the authority to withhold state school aid payments from an overspending school district that fails to submit an acceptable “deficit elimination plan,” or that then falls more deeply into financial trouble.

Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No”

House Bill 4329, Authorize emergency manager for chronically overspending school district: Passed 59 to 50 in the House

To authorize appointment of an Emergency Manager for a public school district that fails to comply with an “enhanced deficit elimination plan” required by House Bill 4327 for a district whose regular deficit elimination plan failed to fix the problem.

Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No”

House Bill 4331, Increase municipal and school “emergency loan” funding: Passed 64 to 45 in the House

To increase from $50 million to $100 million the amount allocated through 2018 for “financial emergency” loans from the state to public school districts, and increase from $35 million to $85 million the amount of such loans to local governments.

Who Voted “Yes” and Who Voted “No”

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 www.MichiganVotes.org.

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Mackinac Center policy staff.