Michigan lame-duck Legislature: Infighting, drama delay votes again

Last updated: Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 12:11 p.m. This post will be regularly updated over the final days of the Michigan Legislature's lame-duck session.

House and Senate Democrats were struggling to cobble together votes to pass anything of significance Wednesday morning amid drama on one of their final days of the legislative year.

Protest absences by multiple lawmakers could effectively kill a number of policy items awaiting final votes, including greater government transparency efforts, police reforms and expanding the state’s hate crime laws.

The infighting comes as House Republicans continue to avoid the chamber unless bills to amend state sick leave and minimum wage law changes are put to a vote. 

Here is where things stood as of noon Wednesday:

• State Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, remained absent from the House, telling the Capitol outlet Gongwer News Service that her day “looks like me staying at home until I get what I want for the citizens of Michigan."
• State Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, also announced early Wednesday she would not attend session, telling Gongwer she had no interest in voting for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s “corporate welfare agenda while Democrats ignore priorities that impact urban communities.”
• The absences mean Democrats do not have the ability to pass legislation without help from Republicans in either chamber. House Republicans, though, are continuing to boycott session unless or until House Speaker Joe Tate allows votes on bills to alter pending changes to Michigan’s minimum wage and sick leave laws.
• Tate, D-Detroit, could issue a call of the House — which would force lawmakers to return to Lansing — but has so far refused to do so, even as lawmakers from his own party push for him to do so.
• Meanwhile, a small group of House Democrats assembled the media to say they remain confident in Tate’s leadership. “It's not Tate’s fault “everybody doesn't have that team mentality” which is “probably what has hurt the speaker more than anything,” said state Rep. Tyrone Carter of Detroit.
• Hanging over the attendance debate was a Facebook post from Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat who suggested skipping session amounts to neglect of duty by lawmakers. “What (Democratic) Rep. Whitsett and the MI House Republicans have chosen to do today is literally criminal,” she wrote.
• Santana, the Democratic state Senator who was skipping session, fired back. "It would be a Progressive Tough on Crime AG to call 2 Black women criminals for taking a principled stand on behalf of Black people," she wrote on the social media platform X.
• Rather than attend voting, House Republicans met at a Lansing-area bar and restaurant at 10 a.m. to publicly lambaste Tate for “fumbling lame duck” and Nessel for disparaging his caucus’ lack of attendance.

Both the House and Senate remain in session as of time of publication. — Jordyn Hermani

Democrat says she won't show up, leaving House short on votes

Tuesday, Dec. 18

Democratic state Rep. Karen Whitsett is not planning to attend the Michigan House session on Wednesday, she told multiple media outlets Tuesday night. 

Whitsett's absence would leave Democrats without the ability to pass any bills without support from Republicans, who staged a walkout last week and are not planning an immediate return during what is likely the final week of Democratic control of the state House. 

Whitsett, a Detroit Democrat who has sided with Republicans on some issues in the past, told Gongwer News Service she wanted the House to act on pending changes to minimum wage and sick leave laws, echoing demands from House GOP Leader Matt Hall.

“House Republicans will not be back until they agree to address the most pressing issues facing our state," Hall said Tuesday evening.

House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, has said he plans to hold session Wednesday. A tentative agenda includes more than 60 bills. 

But without Whisett or Republicans, House Democrats will not be able to approve any mreasures.

That could effectively kill several significant proposals already approved by the Senate, including polluter pay legislation, corporate incentive reforms and a long-discussed government transparency proposal to subject the governor's office and Legislature to public records requests. — Jonathan Oosting

What to watch in likely last week of voting

Tuesday, Dec. 17

Michigan House and Senate lawmakers are due back in session Wednesday for what is likely to be their last voting week of the year. 

There’s no shortage of agenda items to tackle: Potentially altering pending sick leave and minimum wage changes, a major government transparency reform proposal and road funding, to name a few.

The House is scheduled to meet Wednesday and Thursday, and Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, has not signaled willingness to add any further voting days to the calendar. 

But whether the House will be able to pass any bills is not yet known. Republicans walked out last week, citing stalled wage and sick leave talks, and one House Democrat has said she won’t show up Wednesday unless there is voting on a supplemental spending bill to benefit lawmakers’ districts.

Related:

• Dems go it alone in Michigan House, where chaotic meeting ends in lame-duck limbo
• Republicans walk out of Michigan House, demand action on tipped wage and sick leave laws
• $90M data center tax break plan headed to Gov. Whitmer after final passage

The Senate, meanwhile, is tentatively scheduled to hold final votes next Monday, but it’s more likely the upper chamber finishes work this week.

With several Democrats openly questioning Tate’s leadership, it’s not immediately clear how much lawmakers can realistically get done in what could be the final days of the Democratic trifecta in Lansing, where Republicans will take over the state House next year. 

Should the stars align, here are some of the bigger items to watch out for:

Government transparency

After sitting in the House for months without action, efforts to open the Legislature and governor’s office to public records requests picked up this month with committee approval. A vote by the full House – should Tate allow one — could send the plan toward Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk.

Michigan is currently one of two states to not allow its residents to request public documents from either lawmakers or the governor. If passed as written, citizens could request emails and other records from the governor and lawmakers — which they can already do with local and other state government officials — beginning Jan. 1, 2027. 

Tipped wage and sick leave

Michigan’s wage and sick leave laws will change in February if lawmakers take no further action. That’s due to a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision that requires the state to raise its $10.33/hour minimum wage to nearly $15 while phasing out its $3.93/hour tipped wage by 2028.

Businesses oppose the pending changes, and bipartisan legislation could retain the tipped credit while relaxing some sick leave rules. But the UAW and progressive groups are urging Democrats to let the changes take effect. After last week’s impasse, major changes seem unlikely this week. 

Business incentives

Roughly $50 million in taxpayer subsidies could be heading to a proposed copper mine just outside the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. All that’s needed is a final vote by the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is set to meet Wednesday but doesn't currently have the project on its agenda.

The controversial subsidy is among nearly $300 million in new incentives approved last week by the House Appropriations Committee.

The money would come from the Strategic Outreach and Reserve (SOAR) fund, which would expire next year unless lawmakers agree to additional funding — perhaps as early as this week.

Police reforms 

Efforts to enact sweeping police reform in Michigan partially passed the Senate last week, including bills that would require departments to formalize use of force policies, require mental health and law enforcement response training for officers (including the use of de-escallation and crisis intervention techniques) and reform the use of no-knock warrants.

Those bills would each need final approval by the House. 

More cash for out-of-state trash

Whitmer has long pushed to raise Michigan’s out-of-state trash dumping fee, but that effort was scuttled last week when House Democratic Rep. Karen Whitsett abruptly left the rare Friday voting day. 

She and Rep. Nate Shannon, D-Sterling Heights, were holdouts on the change, which could have seen the state increase outstate dumping fees from $0.36/ton to $0.72/ton. The Whitmer administration initially called for the fee to be increased to $5/ton to curb out of state waste being dumped in Michigan.

Shannon changed his vote. But citing health issues, Whitsett’s departure caused the vote to fail Friday. It’s unclear if the Legislature will try bringing the issue back before the full House for a vote

Housing and zoning efforts

Also a victim of Friday’s sudden workstop were efforts to simplify the construction of more housing 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 House votes.

Polluter pay

The Senate last week approved most parts of a package that aims to hold industrial polluters more accountable for cleaning up contamination.

It's a priority for environmental groups but would still need approval by the House to reach the governor's desk. 

Prisoner productivity credits, juvenile ‘lifers’

Major overhauls to the state’s penal system could also come this week, including reforms to Michigan’s cash bail system, allowing prisoners to petition for a “second look” at their sentencing length and putting an end to juvenile life without parole sentences.

It could be a major lift for these policies to cross the finish line, however, as state prosecutors openly advocate against repealing life sentences for juveniles and doing away with mandatory minimum sentencing laws.

Driver’s licenses for undocumented residents

A longsought push, primarily by progressive Democrats but backed by the Michigan Catholic Conference, would allow undocumented Michiganders the ability to get a noncommercial driver’s license or state ID. 

The bills have not received hearings in either the House or Senate, meaning final passage could be unlikely given the tight timeline.

Michigan Voting Rights Act

While Michigan clerks have voiced some concerns with the plan, legislation that broadly aims to prevent voter suppression could reach the governor’s desk with a vote in the full House. 

Among other things, the Senate-approved bills aim to expand ballot access by providing ballots in more languages, create a voting data clearinghouse and codify protections for voters who may need help casting a ballot. — Jordyn Hermani

Monday, Dec. 16

House Democrats revolt against Speaker Tate

Democratic state Rep. Karen Whitsett says she no longer has faith in House Speaker Joe Tate or her party’s ability to get things done after she abruptly walked out of a rare Friday House session that lasted 13 hours.

She’s not the only House Democrat publicly criticizing Tate at a time when the party cannot afford to lose a single vote should they hope to make any progress on policy in the final days of Democratic trifecta control. 

Coupled with a House Republican walkout over failure to advance changes to the state’s sick leave and minimum wage laws, the last scheduled full week of lame-duck currently looks bleak for Democrats.

Related:

• Dems go it alone in Michigan House, where chaotic meeting ends in lame-duck limbo
• Republicans walk out of Michigan House, demand action on tipped wage and sick leave laws
• $90M data center tax break plan headed to Gov. Whitmer after final passage

Tate, meanwhile, is pushing the blame back onto conservatives, telling reporters following session Friday the reason voting fell apart was “because Republicans wanted to play political games.”

“I think it was really disappointing — frankly, shameful — that colleagues … decided not to come in, not to take votes on bills and actually do their jobs,” Tate said. “We’ve been doing that from the beginning.”

Tate highlighted past accomplishments from the Democratic trifecta, including expansion of the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit and repealing the so-called senior pension tax, calling those proof “all of the work that we’ve done.” 

He also lauded recent passage of Democratic bills to expand unemployment benefits, telling reporters “work is still going to continue as long as I’m in this room.”

But internal divisions could prevent final passage on a number of party priorities this week, including Senate-approved government transparency reforms and plans to hike state trash dumping fees, regulate short term rentals and reform Michigan’s housing and zoning laws.

In a scathing Sunday interview with Gongwer News Service, Whitsett said she felt forced to put her foot down Friday after Tate asked Democrats to vote on bills “that had never been through committee.”

If she does show up to session this week — and Democrats will need her to pass any bills without GOP support — Whitsett said she may not vote on "anything," certainly not what she called "garbage bills," tax increases or proposals she thinks "will eventually hurt people."

"The only thing that came out of this was he was the first Black speaker of the House. Nothing else," she said of Tate. "I have been loyal to Joe… I have been loyal to trying to make sure things continue… It's not my job. I refuse to take the heat for this anymore."

Whitsett declined to speak with Bridge last week and did not immediately respond to a Monday interview request. Her comments, however, have already prompted at least one other House Democrat to speak out.

“Karen is 100% correct,” state Rep. Joey Andrews, D-Saint Joseph, wrote Sunday on social media, saying Tate “lacks the quality of leadership” needed to motivate Democrats, leading to “fecklessness, indecision and indifference.”

“Joe Tate's one remarkable success was uniting liberals and conservatives, labor and business, enviros and corporations in being happy to see his tenure end,” Andrews wrote.

Rep. Betsy Coffia, D-Traverse City, has also been a staunch critic of Tate’s leadership since Democrats lost their House majority in the November election.  Last week, she posted then abruptly deleted screenshots of a text exchange between herself and Tate from May. 

In the texts, Coffia said she was disappointed the chamber had not yet held votes on a number of bills, including hate crime legislation, mental health insurance coverage, work protections for nurses and more.

“What is a majority for?” Coffia wrote in a text to Tate, according to the screenshots. “Why are those of us who fight for them treated like a problem and punished? For god’s sake, who the hell are we?” — Jordyn Hermani