Dems go it alone in Michigan House, where chaotic meeting ends in lame-duck limbo

• After GOP walkout, Michigan House Democrats pass more than 50 bills, but struggle to adopt others amid internal divisions
• Lawmakers approved proposals to reopen pension options for teachers, regulate book bans, simplify gender changes on state IDs and more
• House did not act on tipped wage or sick leave changes sought by business community, angering Republicans

LANSING — Over 12 hours in a half-empty chamber Friday, Michigan House lawmakers passed a litany of legislation without any votes from Republicans, who had walked out in protest. 

More than 50 bills passed the House as Democrats rushed to complete an increasingly narrow wish list of legislation before they lose their 56-54 House majority to Republicans, who will begin next year holding 58 of 110 seats.

Frustrations grew among some Democrats as leadership failed to cobble together the unanimous support needed to pass key legislation. Some votes failed, and as midnight neared, one Detroit representative left the building, killing the Democrats’ ability to pass anything — and ending a marathon week.

“This is a consensus-building institution,” House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, told reporters after voting concluded. “We can't get all of the good things done in one legislative session.”

Among the bills House Democrats did approve: Proposals to criminalize price gouging during emergencies, reopen pension options for teachers and prison guards; and regulate how libraries decide to ban books.

Those bills now head to the Senate, which could vote on them next week and send them to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk before adjourning for the year. 

House Republicans walked off the floor after noon with a demand: Take up legislation to amend court-ordered increases to the state minimum wage and earned sick time, or GOP legislators won’t return for other votes.

The incoming Republican Speaker-elect, Matt Hall, called Tate a “a failed leader who can't bring people together.”

The legislation, which would have preserved the state’s lower wage for tipped workers and eased the sick leave rules, were also wrapped up in negotiations about a potential road funding package, the details of which have not emerged.

Tate declined to engage, though Republicans were amendable to a vote on empty bills that would have left changes to the future of Michigan wages open. 

The Democratic leader also chose not to force all members back into the chamber with a “call of the House,” which would’ve employed sergeants-at-arms and state police to round up Republicans and bring them back to the Capitol.

“I’m not going to bring political gamesmanship here,” Tate told reporters.

The GOP walkout fundamentally changed the day’s aspirations. Approving legislation then required unanimity from Democrats, meaning any bill that would have required Republican support was suddenly in limbo. 

“They'll have to go back and talk to their constituents, which is roughly half of the state, and explain to them why they weren't here when we passed over 50 bills, and why they didn't have a voice,” Tate added. 

After Republicans’ departure, Democrats convened and said they were rallied by leadership to support priority legislation and left the meeting buoyed with a feeling of unity against the Republican ultimatum.

The dimming prospects of amending looming increases to Michigan’s minimum wage and phase out of the tipped credit has enraged business groups, who blasted Democratic leaders for the lack of movement. They allege the wage changes will decimate the hospitality industry.

“The responsibility for the restaurants that will inevitably close permanently in 2025 and the many jobs that go with it lies squarely with Speaker Joe Tate and most especially with Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks,” Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association head Justin Winslow said in a statement.

What passed — and failed

The bills that passed Friday all did so with unanimous Democratic support, given Republicans’ absence. The legislation will still need support in the Senate, which is set to meet three days next week, and possibly extend work until Dec. 23 — two days prior to Christmas — before calling it a year. 

A selection of the policies that passed the House Dec. 13 includes:

• Expanding state pensions: Teachers and corrections officers alike would have broadened access to a partially defined-benefit pension plan. Outgoing Rep. Jenn Hill, D-Marquette, had prisons in her Upper Peninsula district and pushed for the prison guard portion for months without success. The legislation had been moved through committee without any testimony Thursday night amid Republican outcry over the alleged financial burden of the changes. Union groups praised the action. 
• Enabling needle exchanges: The long-sought harm reduction policy would allow local governments to set up programs to provide clean needles and dispose of dirty ones for users of intravenous drugs. It’s a policy aimed at mitigating the spread of disease in those communities.
• Limiting book bans: The two bills would require libraries to put in writing their criteria and process for including or excluding material. Community members could request exclusions, but not on discriminatory grounds defined in the legislation. 
• Simplifying gender changes on ID: LGBTQ advocates cheered from the House gallery upon approval of bills that would streamline the process for changing a person’s name and gender on state identification, removing barriers for those with criminal records. The change had been pushed by advocates for the transgender community, in particular, so their identification could more easily match their identities.
• Penalizing price gouging: Dramatically hiking prices during states of emergency and market disruptions would be criminalized under the legislation. Increases would be capped at 15 percent under the three-bill package. The Senate passed its own version of the legislation earlier in the week. 
• E-bike incentives: The proposal would establish a cash rebate program for electric bicycles. Democrats already put a few million dollars in the state budget for the initiative this year.
• Sextortion crimes: The bills would create new criminal penalties for people who threaten to distribute sexually explicit photographs or videos of another person to compel that person to send more images or something of value.

There were also some failures and key legislation that never received a vote. 

The lead bill from Rep. Emily Dievendorf’s “homeless bill of rights” package was up for a vote, but two Democrats declined to support it. The legislation was pulled from the board and Dievendorf left despondent.

The same was true of a package that would have reformed Michigan’s housing and zoning laws to simplify the construction of more units amid a shortage. A bill that would have removed minimum parking requirements for new construction was put up for a vote but pulled when it became clear it would not get 56 votes.

Legislation extending an open record law to the legislature and governor’s office did not receive a vote. It had been held up in the House for unspecified reasons for months yet received a committee hearing this week. Transparency advocates have pushed for the change for more than a decade and Democrats had promised to make the change before they took control of state government.

A chaotic end

Anger among some Democratic representatives began to boil over Friday evening after they learned legislation they had spent months or years working on would not receive a vote, which jeopardizes the potential for final passage given the impending end of year. 

“I think we have shown that power doesn't necessarily equate to relief, that when you have power, you have to use it,” Dievendorf, a Lansing Democrat, said. “This legacy is not looking good right now, and we still have time to resurrect it.”

Rep. Joey Andrews told Bridge he spent nearly two years amending and growing support for legislation to regulate short-term rental properties, like Airbnbs. But Tate, he said, was the lone Democrat to oppose the bill and would not allow for a vote. Andrews said he also had Republicans in support of the legislation.

“There are a number of Dem priorities, if you hunt around the caucus, that the speaker’s personally killed,” Andrews told Bridge, alleging Tate also blocked a vote on bills that would require minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in medical facilities. A sponsor for that legislation, Detroit Rep. Stephnie A. Young, at one point left the chamber with her belongings, halting voting as Aiyash pursued her.

One representative was seen crying as the agenda narrowed over the course of the evening.

Tate allowed a vote on a proposal to increase fees that businesses pay to dump trash in Michigan, a priority of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. But two Democratic holdouts — outgoing Rep. Nate Shannon, D-Sterling Heights and Rep. Karen Whitsett of Detroit — initially declined to support it.

Shannon changed his vote after talking with Tate. Whitsett, however, had left her desk and did not return to the floor. Reporters were told by a spokesperson she had taken ill and left, leaving the vote to fail. 

Whitsett, who has broken ranks with her party before, declined an interview with Bridge. Colleagues said she simply had no interest in further voting. With her departure, Democrats could no longer pass legislation and were forced to adjourn.

What’s next

Whether Friday night meant a death knell for all unpassed House legislation is unclear. 

“We have scheduled session days next week,” Majority Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash, D-Hamtramck, reminded Republican leader Hall after voting concluded on Friday. “I think there's an opportunity to demonstrate (leadership) in this moment, but until then, words are just words.”

Tate, however, said “I think that window closes” on a road funding and wages deal, effectively pushing those issues into 2025.

Legislators are fighting against the clock and their own calendar, however. The state Constitution requires bills must be “laid over” for five days when moving between chambers.

That means the dozens of bills passed Friday can’t be voted on by the opposite chamber until next Wednesday. The day after, Thursday, is the House’s last planned meeting day for the year. 

But the Senate has one more tentative day on the calendar — Monday, Dec. 23 — which would offer the House another opportunity to pass their own bills by Wednesday and still get them to the Senate for final passage. 

The timeline is tight and the odds long, however, given the proximity to the holidays and waning appetite among legislators for more late-night work.