The following student report was submitted by Ambassador League Agent Philip H. during the 2009-2010 League.
Mission: Observe a Legislative Session and Committee Meeting
On Wednesday, March 17th, I was able to go to the capitol and personally experience what happens in the everyday life for people who work in the Michigan political system. I really enjoyed the time being shown around the building and being taken to various sessions and meetings by Mr. Wingrove, and the experience served to expand my knowledge of our government and how it works.
During my time in Lansing, I attended a press conference which unveiled a new piece of legislation entitled, "The Transit Revitalization and Investment Act" (TRAIN). The purpose of the legislation was to increase funding so as to upgrade Michigan’s mass transit system. Speaking in favor of the bill was Senator Allan, Representative Donigan, Senator Jacobs, Representative Schmidt, and Senator Gilbert. The primary focus of the news conference was the idea that upgrading Michigan’s mass transit system would be beneficial because it would help meet the growing demand for public transportation while simultaneously strengthening the economy.
After watching the news conference, I went and watched the House Appropriations Committee meeting. Several bills were discussed and many different people testified either in favor or opposition to the proposed legislation. The first bill presented in the committee meeting was HB 5538 (Sponsored by the Committee Chairman, Rep. Cushingberry) which levied an additional fee for those who post bail. The rationale behind this was that many county court systems have insufficient funds that they need in order to provide for public legal defense. The bill would take the additional money derived from the higher price on posting bail and direct it to the local judicial system. The second bill proposed was HB 5830 (Sponsored by Rep. Hammel) which also sought to gain the state revenue by placing an additional $50 charge on licenses for state contractors. Hammel and those who spoke in favor of the legislation argued that the money was needed to revive a currently insolvent Lien Fund which protects people against contractorabuse. The fund existed to provide those who had been cheated by contractors with some money in order to offset their losses and without additional funding the Lien Fund would become useless.
Having seen both of those bills discussed in the committee meeting, I went and watched state legislators on the house floor. During the legislative session many different bills were voted upon, and several were advanced to the third and final reading. One bill that was moved forward was Senate Bill 1088. This legislation would amend state code concerning the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act so that the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) would not have to change the name on all of their materials such as uniforms, papers, publications, park entrances, etc. to reflect the change in the department’s name. Essentially, the bill was a provision which stated that just because the name of the Department had changed didn’t mean that they needed to adjust everything that contained the outdated department name. Another bill that advanced to third reading was Senate Bill 395 which changed the property tax appeal process by giving people four more days to appeal their assessment. Currently, the tax assessments are sent ten days before the board of review meets to review the appeals. The argument made to pass SB 395 was that the people didn’t have enough time to figure out if they needed to make an appeal, and if an appeal was necessary, there was often not enough time. The solution proposed in the bill is to send the property tax assessments out four days earlier to allow the people more time to make sure that their assessment is right.
During the visit to Lansing, I was able to see a bill at various different stages in the legislative process and how a proposed law makes its way through the long process. I saw a new piece of legislation unveiled at the news conference, already drafted bills being discussed in the committee meetings, and bills that had been sent out of the committee forwarded to the third and final reading on the house floor. All in all, I found the whole day very interesting and educational.
