With the Legislature holding intermittent sessions during the general election campaign season, the Roll Call Report continues its review of key votes from the 2017-2018 session.

House Bill 4001, Reduce state income tax rate: Failed 52 to 55 in the House on February 23, 2017

To cut the state income tax rate from the current 4.25 percent to 4.05 percent over two years. One Democrat voted 'yes,' and 12 Republicans joined all other Democrats in voting 'no.'

Senate Bill 111, Give $1.0 billion to Dan Gilbert and other big developers: Passed 32 to 5 in the Senate on March 29, 2017

To authorize giving up to $1 billion over 20 years in ongoing cash subsidies to Detroit developer Dan Gilbert and possibly others selected by state and local political appointees.

Senate Bill 242, Authorize giving $200 million to certain business owners: Passed 29 to 5 in the Senate on July 12, 2017

To authorize giving up to $200 million state taxpayer dollars to a Taiwan company that builds iPhones, and potentially some other firms. The company ultimately chose to locate a plant in Wisconsin rather than Michigan.

House Bill 6064, Authorize giving $50 million to some business owners: Passed 81 to 25 in the House on October 4, 2018

To authorize giving up to $50 million to some private business owners through a device the bill would create called a “rural development fund.” The Senate has not yet voted on this bill.

Legislative Initiative Petition 2, Repeal prevailing wage law: Passed 23 to 14 in the Senate on June 6, 2018

To repeal the state prevailing wage law, which prohibits awarding government contracts to contractors who submit the lowest bid unless the contractor pays wages based on union pay scales that local union officials represent as prevalent in a particular area.Legislative Initiative Petition 2, Repeal prevailing wage law: Passed 56 to 53 in the 

Senate Bill 335, Revise campaign finance law to reflect Citizens United: Passed 23 to 12 in the Senate on September 14, 2017

To revise Michigan campaign finance laws that violate the the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the Citizens United case, which limited the power of congress and state legislatures to restrict election-related political speech by corporations, including non-profit groups motivated by ideological or political concerns.

House Bill 5013, Reform no-fault auto insurance: Failed 45 to 63 in the House on November 2, 2017

To allow auto insurance companies to offer policies with less-than unlimited personal injury protection (PIP) coverage; prohibit hospitals and other providers from charging full "chargemaster" rates in these auto insurance cases; add restrictions on pursuing crash-related lawsuits in court (which the no-fault system was intended to minimize), and adopt other reforms likely to lower insurance rates.

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.