House passes bill to ban welfare benefits for truancy issues, along with other votes

The News-Herald recently posted this breakdown of votes in the Michigan Legislature, via MichiganVotes.org. To access MichiganVotes.org, click here.

House Bill 4118, Require drug testing of welfare applicants: Passed 77 to 33 in the House

To require drug testing of state welfare benefit recipients or applicants if an "empirical screening tool" indicates a reasonable suspicion, and prohibit benefits for six months if a person tests positive a second time (or refuses "treatment" the first time). This would begin as a one-year pilot program in three counties.



Rep. David Knezek (D-Dearborn Heights) - N 

Rep. Douglas Geiss (D-Taylor) - N

 Rep. Andrew Kandrevas (D-Southgate) - N

 Rep. Paul Clemente (D-Lincoln Park) - Y 

Rep. George Darany (D-Dearborn) - N

 Rep. Bill LaVoy (D-Monroe) - Y

 Rep. Patrick Somerville (R-New Boston) - Y



House Bill 4388, Ban welfare benefits for truancy scofflaws: Passed 78 to 32 in the House

To require welfare recipients who have school age children to ensure the children attend school or else lose benefits, and require the state welfare agency to promulgate rules to make it so. If the child is age 16 or 17 he or she would be "removed" from the welfare "program group," meaning the family and/or household.



Knezek - N

 Geiss - Y 

Kandrevas - N

 Clemente - Y

 Darany - N

LaVoy - Y

 Somerville - Y



House Bill 4291, Require full tax audit details be given to audit target: Passed 110 to 0 in the House

To require the Department of Treasury to provide a person or business who has been audited with a complete copy of the auditors' working papers, findings, and all the correspondence and documentation which formed a basis for audit determinations. Also, to require such audits to conform with standards the department would have to establish within one year, covering audit evidence, understanding of the audited entity, documentation and much more. The bill is part of a package of reforms related to business complaints regarding state audit procedures.



Knezek - Y 

Geiss - Y

 Kandrevas - Y

 Clemente- Y

 Darany - Y

LaVoy - Y 

Somerville - Y



House Bill 4458, Prohibit TIFA "capture" of Detroit Zoo or Arts tax money: Passed 104 to 4 in the House

To prohibit the "capture" by a local Tax Increment Finance Authority (such as a Downtown Development Authority) of regional property taxes imposed to subsidize the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Institute for the Arts.



Knezek - Y

 Geiss - N

 Kandrevas - Y 

Clemente - N

 Darany - Y

LaVoy - Y

 Somerville - Y



Senate Bill 97, Repeal child car seat penalty waiver provision: Passed 92 to 16 in the House

To repeal a provision of the law mandating child car seats that waives penalties for a violation if the driver gets a car seat and brings the receipts to court. The bill would allow a court to waive this fine, but unlike current law, does not require it to.



Knezek - Y

 Geiss - Y

 Kandrevas - Y

 Clemente - Y

 Darany - Y

LaVoy - Y

 Somerville - N



Senate Bill 288, Give NRC duty of designating huntable game species: Passed 72 to 38 in the House 

To give the state Natural Resources Commission (in addition to the Legislature) the power to designate a species as a huntable game species. The commission could not designate mourning doves as a game species, but potentially could designate wolves. Also, to allow members of the military to obtain hunting and fishing licenses for free.



Knezek - N

 Geiss - N 

Kandrevas - N

 Clemente - N

 Darany - N

LaVoy - Y

 Somerville - Y



Senate Bill 29, Mandate "bittering agents" in antifreeze: Passed 36 to 1 in the Senate

To mandate that antifreeze engine coolant sold at retail in Michigan must have a "bittering agent" added to make it unpalatable to children, dogs and other animals (who are attracted by the sweet taste of antifreeze, a deadly poison).



Sen. Tupac Hunter (D-Detroit) - Y 

Sen. Patrick Colbeck (R-Canton) - N

 Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D-Taylor) – Y



MichiganVotes.org is a free, non-partisan website created by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, providing concise, non-partisan, plain-English descriptions of every bill and vote in the Michigan House and Senate.