LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks has filed a lawsuit against Republican Speaker of the House Matt Hall for refusing to send nine bills to the governor to sign into law.
The legislation was passed by the Senate and returned to the state House on December 20. They were passed in the last days of the previous Legislature. The House was in majority control by Democrats at that time. Former House Speaker Joe Tate had ordered absent members be called back to the House floor on December 19. Democrats adjourned later that day without taking any up legislation.
In a virtual news conference Monday, Brinks said Hall is not upholding the law because he has failed to turn the bills over to Governor Gretchen Whitmer. She would have 14 days to decide whether to sign a given bill, under the Michigan constitution.
The lawsuit claims that House Speaker Hall has illegally blocked the bills passed by both chambers of the Legislature from being presented to the Governor.
"He has failed to abide by our state Constitution. And he has failed to act, despite our warnings of legal action," Brinks said.
She is a Grand Rapids Democrat.
Hall, a Richland Township Republican, has called for a legal review before deciding how to handle the matter. He has said in the past that not all of the bills approved by the Senate were sent to the Governor before the legislature adjourned, as they should have been. He questioned why the bills were not presented before the Republicans took control of the House. And said the legal review would determine if the legislation should now be presented to the current House that convened last month for the new session.
The lawsuit filed in the Michigan Court of Claims requests that a judge order the House to hand the legislation over to the Governor to be signed into law. The bills would allow corrections officers and other law enforcers to opt into the Michigan State Police retirement program, increase public employer contributions and exempt some public assistance benefits from debt collection.
"The Constitution makes it abundantly clear," Brinks said. "Every bill passed by the Legislature is required to be presented to the Governor. And to make myself abundantly clear, no one - especially an elected public servant in legislative leadership - is above the law."
Democratic Senator Kevin Hertel said in the news conference that blocking the bills is a choice by Republican leadership to intentionally hurt "thousands of public workers and their families across the State of Michigan.
"Their deliberate obstruction is forcing teachers, police officers and firefighters into very difficult economic choices," Hertel said.
Democrati Senator Sue Shink said that corrections officers are being denied pay and benefits because of the holdup in getting the bills over to Gov. Whitmer.
"They told us what they need: Better pensions to help recruit and retain officers in a profession that is already facing extreme staffing shortages," Shink said.
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