Michigan Senate Dems sue House Republicans over pension, health care bills

• Michigan Senate sues House over nine bills approved last year but not yet sent to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for potential signature
• Democrats who control Michigan Senate argue Republicans who control House are violating state constitution
• Bills propose pension access for correction officers, better health care benefits for public workers, among other things

LANSING — Michigan's Democratic-led Senate on Monday sued the Republican-majority House over nine bills approved last year but not sent to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk amid an ongoing “legal review.”

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, said the escalation was warranted because House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, had “failed to fulfill his responsibilities as an elected official” and “failed to abide by our state constitution.”

The suit asks the Michigan Court of Claims to compel Hall and the House to send the previously approved bills to Whitmer before the would-be laws would go into effect in early April. 

The bills include plans to place correction officers in the state police pension system, require governments to pay a larger share of employee health care premiums, exempt public assistance from debt collection and allow Detroit historical museums to propose a millage.

Senate Democrats argue the Legislature is mandated to send bills to the governor after they pass both chambers. The lawsuit contends House Republicans violated the state constitution by refusing to do so.

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Republicans have blamed the situation on House Democrats, who failed to send the bills to Whitmer before losing their legislative majority at year’s end. 

Hall spokesperson Greg Manz maintained in a statement the speaker is “carrying out a thorough, comprehensive legal review of an entirely unprecedented situation to ensure the House acts constitutionally.”

The suit from Senate Democrats, however, noted at least five times since 1980 when bills from one legislative session have been presented to governors and later signed in the next session.

The Senate majority had previously threatened legal action. Brinks said the fate of the bills is “not subject to negotiation” but declined to say whether Hall had offered to negotiate a resolution. 

The legal drama comes about a month into a new session where Republicans hold a House majority with 58 of 110 seats and Democrats currently control the state Senate with a 19-18 majority.

When Democrats threatened legal action last month, Hall accused Brinks of "wasting taxpayer dollars on political lawsuits" and suggested the House may be less likely to take up Senate bills this term "if that's the way she approaches this."

The legislation in question was being processed by clerks on Jan. 9 when Hall was formally handed the gavel as the new House Speaker. He then told staff to halt the process and ordered a legal review of the situation.

According to the Michigan Constitution, "Every bill passed by the Legislature shall be presented to the governor before it becomes law, and the governor shall have 14 days” to decide whether to sign or veto it.

Brinks did not have an answer for why the bills were never processed before the start of the new legislative session. The Democratic House majority ended in chaos last December after Republicans walked out of the chamber in protest and one Democrat — Rep. Karen Whitsett of Detroit — refused to participate.