House Bill 4837: Restrict outside groups’ access to state voter database: Passed 21 to 15 in the Senate

To restrict access to the state's qualified voter file (QVF) database to the Secretary of State office and other authorized election officials, local and county election clerks, and state employees or vendors who do maintenance and security work on the QVF. The bill would remove a provision authorizing access by a “designated voter registration agency.” The Senate also passed House Bill 4838 by the same margin, which would have banned connecting the electronic poll book at election precincts from being connected to the internet on election day. Note: Both bills were vetoed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Oct. 3.

Senate Bill 321: Require teacher “mental health first aid” training: Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate

To add to teacher continuing education courses a requirement that they include “mental health first aid” training, and require the Department of Education in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services to "develop or adopt" a program for this. This would include "identifying potential risk factors and warning signs for mental illness, and strategies for helping an individual experiencing a mental health crisis."

Senate Bill 664: Count quarantined public students for funding allocation purposes: Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate

To include absent students who are "in quarantine" and "being educated through physical educational materials” as defined in the bill to be deemed present on the school district enrollment “count days" on which state aid is determined.

House Bill 5007: Eliminate charge to get state ID: Passed 20 to 16 in the Senate

To eliminate the charge for getting a state identification card.

Senate Bill 258: Mandate newspapers post printed legal notices on free website: Passed 34 to 0 in the Senate

To require a newspaper in which government legal notices are published to also place these on a section of a website that can be accessed at no charge.

Senate Bill 280: Put time limits on initiated law petition signature counting: Passed 20 to 16 in the Senate

To require the board of state canvassers to complete the canvass of signatures collected on an initiated law petition within 100 days after it is filed with the Secretary of State. If canvassers declare there are enough valid signatures then the proposed law must be immediately forwarded to the legislature for consideration. Under the state constitution, unless the legislature enacts the law proposed by an initiative that gains the required number of signatures, it goes on the next general election ballot for a vote of the people.

Senate Bill 280: Put time limits on initiated law petition signature counting: Passed 55 to 48 in the House

The House vote on amending the initiated law process described above.

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.