LANSING, MI (WHTC) – With legislative leaders at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference for the rest of the week, lawmaking work in Lansing has grounded to a halt.
Before they left the Capitol, the House Roads and Economic Development Committee heard more testimony on bills based upon Speaker Kevin Cotter’s $1.05 billion-annual road funding proposal, with votes coming as soon as next week. In addition, 14 of 17 individual departmental budgets cleared joint House/Senate committees.
The state Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed a bill that would keep attorneys from soliciting parties in divorce actions until 21 days had passed since the initial summons. Sponsors say that this will protect abused mates from additional attacks, while opponents have concerns about this infringing on lawyers’ constitutional rights. The committee also took testimony on legislation that would add domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking to the state’s anti-discrimination policy.
A plank of Governor Snyder’s criminal justice reform initiative cleared the House Criminal Justice Committee. The panel approved a bill aimed at overhauling probation guidelines in order to cut down on recidivism rates and lower county jail costs while protecting funding from being diverted into other areas. The committee also endorsed a resolution that would prohibit state agencies from collecting electronic information without getting a judge-issued search warrant first.
