Highlights of the Latest Major Legislative, Administrative and Regulatory Activity in the State Capitol Volume MMXX – Issue 10 March 13, 2020 COVID-19 CONFIRMED IN MICHIGAN – On Tuesday, March 10, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the first two cases of confirmed COVID-19 in Michigan. Since this announcement, 10 more cases have been confirmed, making it 12 total. On Thursday night, Governor Whitmer ordered that all K-12 school buildings in Michigan, including public, private and boarding, be closed until April 5. As of Friday morning, there were 554 people under active monitoring and 26 test results pending. Actions taken throughout the state include all public universities suspending in-person classes, roughly a dozen community colleges moving to online classes, recommending gatherings of 100 people or more be canceled, and encouraging good hygiene and social distancing. COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, the first pandemic since H1N1 of 2009. All legislative-sponsored events in the Capitol are canceled until at least April 20, the Michigan State Capitol Commission announced on Thursday. This will include any House or Senate sanctioned events, receptions or tours. Currently the House and Senate plan to hold session next week and will evaluate weekly. The House and Senate are permitting any staff members who are 60 or older and those with underlying health conditions to work remotely, while non-essential staff may be permitted to work from home as well. Governor Whitmer also announced that Medicaid beneficiaries can now receive health services via telemedicine in their home. This is intended to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Many of the states largest insurers have announced they will be covering telemedicine. In the Tuesday night press conference, Governor Whitmer declared a state of emergency via executive order because of COVID-19. There is $25 million being appropriated to deal with the virus as a part of the most recent supplemental budget, Senate Bill 151, along with $50 million from the Federal government. The state has deployed a new website to update information surround COVID-19, please click here to visit it. SUPPLEMENTAL PASSES – Senate Bill 151 cleared the House and Senate, meaning a total of $321.3 million ($180.6 million General Fund/General Purpose) in spending is heading to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s desk. The bill passed 36-2 in the Senate and 101-6 in the House. Some key funding within the supplemental bills that has been highlighted by the legislature and governor include: $25 million for coronavirus response, $16 million for Pure Michigan, $35 million for Michigan Reconnect, $15 million for the Going Pro program and $11.3 million to start replacing the MiSACWIS computer system within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). “There are some really important programs for the state of Michigan in this supplemental,” Senator Curtis Hertel Jr. (D-East Lansing) said. “I appreciate the Governor’s office and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle in working with us on this supplemental.” This is the second supplemental that has been passed in order to restore funding from the budget cuts Governor Whitmer made on the Fiscal Year 2019- 2020 budget. NESBITT NAMED ADVISE AND CONSENT CHAIR – Senator Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton) was named the new chair of the Senate Advise and Consent Committee. This change comes after Senator Peter Lucido (R-Shelby Township) was stripped of his committee chair as punishment from the Senate after the results of an investigation into Senator Lucido’s alleged misconduct with women. Other committee changes in the Senate: • Senator Kim LaSata (R-Bainbridge Township) was removed from Advise and Consent and Senator Lana Theis (R-Brighton) was added to the committee as vice chair. • Senator Theis was added as a member to the Senate Appropriations K-12 subcommittee. • Senator Rick Outman (R-Six Lakes) was removed from the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the Department of Natural Resources and Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and Senator John Bizon (R-Battle Creek) was added. • Senator Dayna Polehanki (D-Livonia) was named minority vice chair on the Senate Agriculture committee. • Senator LaSata was added to the Senate Economic and Small Business Development committee, replacing Senator Theis. RECONNECT BILLS MOVE THROUGH HOUSE AND SENATE – Legislation that would set up Michigan Reconnect to provide financial aid for adults seeking certain associate degrees or credentials saw movement in both House and Senate committees. House Bills 5576 and 5580 were reported unanimously by the House Government Operations Committee, while Senate Bill 268 was reported out 16-2 from the Senate Appropriations Committee because funding was appropriated to this program in the most recent supplemental, SB 151. These bills would create the Michigan Reconnect Grant Program and Reconnect Private Training Learning Initiative within the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) for Michigan residents older than 25 years old who are high school graduates or have received a GED. Also, applicants would need to be enrolled in an associate degree or industry-recognized certificate program at least part-time and have filled out the federal financial aid application. According to Senator Ken Horn (R-Frankenmuth), part A of these bills focuses on Community College, while part B is about getting people into skilled trades. This program was first proposed last year by Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s 2019 State of the State Address. This program is tied into the most recent supplemental, SB 151, which appropriates $35 million to it, with the money coming from the fund previously used for former Governor Rick Snyder’s “Marshall Plan” initiatives. Furthermore, those participating in the employer-based programs and trade schools could also receive scholarships through the program. Representative Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) said, “Reconnect specifically provides an opportunity for workers who have felt left behind to become certified and trained in a skilled trade, opening up new opportunities for them to engage in the work force.” The House Fiscal Agency estimates the cost of the program will be $1,197 per student, with total cost being an estimated $30.4 million in the first year, with it increasing to $48.9 million in the second year due to an increase in students participating. HIGH WATER LEVELS TO CONTINUE TO GET WORSE – The Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) director Liesl Clark said the agency is “very concerned” about what the next eight to ten months will look like with the high-water levels throughout the state. It is expected the water levels will continue to get worse before getting better, according to EGLE. In the first three recordable months of 2020 groundwater levels, inland lakes and streams throughout the state are already fully saturated for the year, meaning that even the most normal of weather events will be “very painful along the coasts, as well as inland.” Director Clark expects the amount of unplanted farmland, which in 2019 clocked in at 920,000 acres, to be the same in 2020 if not more. However, EGLE does not expect this to become the new normal and that the water levels will continue to cycle. Currently, EGLE is compiling information from data gathered by listening tour sessions and meetings of the High Water Taskforce to find the best way to resolve this issue. ELECTIONS • Former Vice President Joe Biden won Michigan’s Democratic Primary Election on Tuesday against U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders. Biden defeated Sanders by 16.4 percentage points with 99 percent of the state’s precincts counted. • Voters throughout Michigan approved 90 percent of the more than 200 local tax increases or renewals put before them. Out of the 215 local proposals, only 20 did not pass. • Cynthia Neely won her special election to succeed her husband, Flint Mayor Sheldon Neely, in the 34th House District. Now Representative Neely can be sworn into office as soon as the clerk’s office is sent official canvassed results. ODDS AND ENDS • Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced a Coronavirus Water Restart Plan to mitigate the health risks of COVID-19 by ensuring all Detroit residents have access to water in their homes. The state is covering the costs for the first 30 days. • The Senate passed Senate Bill 657 passed by a margin of 31-7, which would allow teachers with interim teaching certificates to teach special education. The bill was passed after two amendments were added on the floor to have the Center for Educational Performance and Information, Michigan Department of Education and one more research university conduct a study and analysis of educator shortages in Michigan. • Under House Bills 5558, 5559 and 5560 commercial hunting and fishing guides would need to register with the state of Michigan to get a better handle on poaching and setting quota limits on game. This bill package took testimony only and is likely to have a vote on the package soon. • The Detroit Casino’s reported aggregate revenue of $121.7 million during February, topping last year’s February revenue by 6.3 percent. February revenue was also up 1.5 percent from January 2020. • The Senate Natural Resources Committee passed House Bills 5401, 5402 and 5463 by a 5-0 margin. These bills would allow local governments or the state to set temporary speed limits along stretches of waterways during high-water conditions. • Michigan’s Republican lead House and Senate have standing to appeal a prior court decision that gutted a 2018 lame-duck law that tightened statewide ballot initiatives, according to an attorney for the legislature telling the state’s Supreme Court. Public Act 608 of 2018 required that no more than 15 percent of an initiative’s signatures can come from each congressional district, which was ruled unconstitutional by Attorney General Dana Nessel in May 2019.