No. 90
STATE OF MICHIGAN
Journal of the Senate
94th Legislature
REGULAR SESSION OF 2007
Senate Chamber, Lansing, Thursday, September 20, 2007.
10:00a.m.
The Senate was called to order by the President pro tempore, Senator Randy Richardville.
The roll was called by the Secretary of the Senate, who announced that a quorum was present.
Allen--present Garcia--present Pappageorge--present
Anderson--present George--present Patterson--present
Barcia--present Gilbert--present Prusi--present
Basham--present Gleason--present Richardville--present
Birkholz--present Hardiman--present Sanborn--present
Bishop--present Hunter--present Schauer--present
Brater--present Jacobs--present Scott--present
Brown--present Jansen--present Stamas--present
Cassis--present Jelinek--present Switalski--present
Cherry--present Kahn--present Thomas--present
Clark-Coleman--present Kuipers--present Van Woerkom--present
Clarke--present McManus--present Whitmer--present
Cropsey--present Olshove--present
Senator John J. Gleason of the 27th District offered the following invocation:
One hundred and fifty years ago in this great country, there were decisions made by policymakers that brothers would fight brothers, fathers would fight fathers, and that families would fight families. Fifty years ago, America was met with trying to get students into Little Rock, Arkansas, schools, and once again, arms were utilized to divide our country.
As we struggle with our day-to-day issues here in this great Capitol representing this great state, I believe it is not wholly inappropriate that we hear from the good book of Ecclesiastes: "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace." Whatever is has already been and whatever will be has been before and God will call the past to account.
Dear God, we ask for Your consideration and wisdom and deliberations as we decide the future of this great state. May we understand the title of "representative" of the people is sometimes greater than the term "legislator" of the people. We ask for Your holy name to intervene in our deliberations today and every day that we have this great and overwhelming responsibility.
Thank You for this opportunity to speak on behalf of those who cannot speak; to stand up for those who cannot stand; and to walk for those who cannot walk. We ask all of this in Your holy name, good Lord. Amen.
The President, Lieutenant Governor Cherry, led the members of the Senate in recital of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Motions and Communications
Senators Jelinek, Basham and Garcia entered the Senate Chamber.
Senator Thomas moved that Senator Barcia be temporarily excused from today's session.
The motion prevailed.
Recess
Senator Cropsey moved that the Senate recess subject to the call of the Chair.
The motion prevailed, the time being 10:08a.m.
11:42a.m.
The Senate was called to order by the President, Lieutenant Governor Cherry.
During the recess, Senator Barcia entered the Senate Chamber.
By unanimous consent the Senate proceeded to the order of
General Orders
Senator Cropsey moved that the Senate resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole for consideration of the General Orders calendar.
The motion prevailed, and the President, Lieutenant Governor Cherry, designated Senator Allen as Chairperson.
After some time spent therein, the Committee arose; and, the President, Lieutenant Governor Cherry, having resumed the Chair, the Committee reported back to the Senate, favorably and without amendment, the following bill:
Senate Bill No.778, entitled
A bill to amend 1971 PA 140, entitled "Glenn Steil state revenue sharing act of 1971," by amending section 13 (MCL 141.913), as amended by 2006 PA 437.
The bill was placed on the order of Third Reading of Bills.
The Committee of the Whole reported back to the Senate, favorably and with a substitute therefor, the following bill:
Senate Bill No.204, entitled
A bill to amend 1998 PA 386, entitled "Estates and protected individuals code," by amending section 3805 (MCL 700.3805), as amended by 2000 PA 177.
Substitute (S-1).
The Senate agreed to the substitute recommended by the Committee of the Whole, and the bill as substituted was placed on the order of Third Reading of Bills.
The Committee of the Whole reported back to the Senate, favorably and with a substitute therefor, the following bill:
Senate Bill No.374, entitled
A bill to amend 1939 PA 280, entitled "The social welfare act," (MCL 400.1 to 400.119b) by adding sections 112g, 112h, 112i, and 112j.
Substitute (S-3).
The following are the amendments to the substitute recommended by the Committee of the Whole:
1. Amend page 1, line 4, after "XIX." by striking out the balance of the subsection and inserting "THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY HEALTH SHALL WORK WITH THE APPROPRIATE STATE AND FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES TO REVIEW OPTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF A VOLUNTARY ESTATE PRESERVATION PROGRAM. BEGINNING NOT LATER THAN 180 DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE AMENDATORY ACT THAT ADDED THIS SECTION AND EVERY 180 DAYS THEREAFTER, THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY HEALTH SHALL SUBMIT A REPORT TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS SUBCOMMITTEES WITH JURISDICTION OVER DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY HEALTH MATTERS AND THE SENATE AND HOUSE FISCAL AGENCIES REGARDING OPTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE ESTATE PRESERVATION PROGRAM.".
2. Amend page 3, line 24, after the second "THE" by striking out "SOLE" and inserting "PRIMARY".
The Senate agreed to the substitute, as amended, recommended by the Committee of the Whole, and the bill as substituted was placed on the order of Third Reading of Bills.
The Committee of the Whole reported back to the Senate, favorably and with a substitute therefor, the following bill:
Senate Bill No.593, entitled
A bill to amend 1978 PA 368, entitled "Public health code," by amending sections 13101 and 13102 (MCL 333.13101 and 333.13102), as added by 1996 PA 223, and by adding sections 13104, 13105, 13106, 13107, 13108, 13109, and 13110.
Substitute (S-1).
The Senate agreed to the substitute recommended by the Committee of the Whole, and the bill as substituted was placed on the order of Third Reading of Bills.
The Committee of the Whole reported back to the Senate, favorably and with a substitute therefor, the following bill:
Senate Bill No.774, entitled
A bill to amend 1985 PA 106, entitled "State convention facility development act," by amending sections 8 and 9 (MCL 207.628 and 207.629), section 8 as amended by 1993 PA 58 and section 9 as amended by 2005 PA 312.
Substitute (S-3).
The Senate agreed to the substitute recommended by the Committee of the Whole, and the bill as substituted was placed on the order of Third Reading of Bills.
Senator Richardville asked and was granted unanimous consent to make a statement and moved that the statement be printed in the Journal.
The motion prevailed.
Senator Richardville's statement is as follows:
It is kind of a bittersweet day in the Senate office of Senate District No.17 because Katie Remias is going to be leaving our office. She has been working with us as an intern. She already has an undergraduate degree from Michigan State University, working on her master's degree in human resources and labor relations, and eventually will obtain her law degree. She has been one of those employee-interns who work beyond your expectations.
We hate to see her go, but we wish her all the best.
By unanimous consent the Senate returned to the order of
Third Reading of Bills
Senator Cropsey moved that the rules be suspended and that the following bills, now on the order of Third Reading of Bills, be placed on their immediate passage:
Senate Bill No.204
Senate Bill No.374
Senate Bill No.774
The motion prevailed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor.
Senator Cropsey moved that the following bills be placed at the head of the Third Reading of Bills calendar:
Senate Bill No.204
Senate Bill No.374
Senate Bill No.774
House Bill No.4673
The motion prevailed.
The following bill was read a third time:
Senate Bill No.204, entitled
A bill to amend 1998 PA 386, entitled "Estates and protected individuals code," by amending section 3805 (MCL 700.3805), as amended by 2000 PA 177.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows:
Roll Call No.335 Yeas--24
Barcia Cherry Jacobs Richardville
Basham Garcia Jansen Stamas
Bishop George Jelinek Switalski
Brater Gilbert Kuipers Thomas
Brown Gleason McManus Van Woerkom
Cassis Hardiman Prusi Whitmer
Nays--14
Allen Clarke Olshove Sanborn
Anderson Cropsey Pappageorge Schauer
Birkholz Hunter Patterson Scott
Clark-Coleman Kahn
Excused--0
Not Voting--0
In The Chair: President
The Senate agreed to the title of the bill.
The following bill was read a third time:
Senate Bill No.374, entitled
A bill to amend 1939 PA 280, entitled "The social welfare act," (MCL 400.1 to 400.119b) by adding sections 112g, 112h, 112i, 112j, and 112k.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows:
Roll Call No.336 Yeas--21
Barcia Garcia Jacobs Stamas
Basham George Jansen Switalski
Bishop Gilbert Jelinek Thomas
Brater Gleason Kuipers Van Woerkom
Cassis Hardiman Prusi Whitmer
Cherry
Nays--17
Allen Clarke McManus Richardville
Anderson Cropsey Olshove Sanborn
Birkholz Hunter Pappageorge Schauer
Brown Kahn Patterson Scott
Clark-Coleman
Excused--0
Not Voting--0
In The Chair: President
The Senate agreed to the title of the bill.
Protest
Senator Clarke, under his constitutional right of protest (Art. 4, Sec. 18), protested against the passage of Senate Bill No.374.
Senator Clarke's statement is as follows:
I oppose Senate Bill No.374, which was introduced to implement the Michigan estate recovery program. Such a program would allow the state to recover homes and family farms and other assets from the estates of people over the age of 55, who, through illness, were forced to enroll in Medicaid for long-term care or home-based community care. Many of Michigan's seniors have worked their entire lives with the goal of leaving their home or farm to their families. This estate recovery program would put those wishes in jeopardy. I think, furthermore, with the high rates of foreclosure that are going on right now that many of the children of a deceased Medicaid recipient may depend on living in their parent's home. We want to make sure that home is available.
Now we, under federal law, must implement an estate recovery program, but I would say that this version should be changed in the House for two reasons. No.1, this bill allows the state to impose a lien on the Medicaid recipient's property even while the recipient is alive. Let's say that that Medicaid recipient, who is a homeowner, wants to refinance their home because they need additional money. They're not going to be able to do that that easily with that state lien attached to it. Furthermore, I know that it's the Senate's intent that the state only recovers against the probate assets--the probate estate. Unfortunately, the way this bill is drafted, the state could recover against nonprobate estates. Here's what that means: That means the state may be able to go after someone's life insurance beneficiaries, go to recover money from a trust, or go and take money out of a jointly-held bank account. All of those are outside of the probate estate, but yet, the way the bill is drafted, the state could arguably go after those assets to pay off a Medicaid debt.
Once a person is eligible for Medicaid, they virtually spend all of their assets but $2,000. They've paid almost everything they could pay. I'm saying let's not go against the money they have set aside for their life insurance beneficiaries or a home that they want to leave to their kids which may be the only home available for those children to live in.
Based on these reasons, I would urge the House to modify Senate Bill No.374 so that it reflects the clear intents of the authors of this legislation.
The following bill was read a third time:
Senate Bill No.774, entitled
A bill to amend 1985 PA 106, entitled "State convention facility development act," by amending sections 8, 9, and 10 (MCL 207.628, 207.629, and 207.630), section 8 as amended by 1993 PA 58 and section 9 as amended by 2005 PA 312.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows:
Roll Call No.337 Yeas--38
Allen Clark-Coleman Jansen Richardville
Anderson Clarke Jelinek Sanborn
Barcia Cropsey Kahn Schauer
Basham Garcia Kuipers Scott
Birkholz George McManus Stamas
Bishop Gilbert Olshove Switalski
Brater Gleason Pappageorge Thomas
Brown Hardiman Patterson Van Woerkom
Cassis Hunter Prusi Whitmer
Cherry Jacobs
Nays--0
Excused--0
Not Voting--0
In The Chair: President
The Senate agreed to the title of the bill.
The following bill was read a third time:
House Bill No.4673, entitled
A bill to amend 1961 PA 39, entitled "An act to regulate insurance, bankruptcy, mortgage, insolvent, assignee's, executor's, administrator's, receiver's, trustee's removal and closing out sales, and sales of goods, wares and merchandise damaged by fire, smoke, water or otherwise; to provide penalties for the violation hereof; and to repeal certain acts and parts of acts," by amending section 6 (MCL 442.216).
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows:
Roll Call No.338 Yeas--38
Allen Clark-Coleman Jansen Richardville
Anderson Clarke Jelinek Sanborn
Barcia Cropsey Kahn Schauer
Basham Garcia Kuipers Scott
Birkholz George McManus Stamas
Bishop Gilbert Olshove Switalski
Brater Gleason Pappageorge Thomas
Brown Hardiman Patterson Van Woerkom
Cassis Hunter Prusi Whitmer
Cherry Jacobs
Nays--0
Excused--0
Not Voting--0
In The Chair: President
The question being on concurring in the committee recommendation to give the bill immediate effect,
The recommendation was concurred in, 2/3 of the members serving voting therefor.
The Senate agreed to the title of the bill.
By unanimous consent the Senate returned to the order of
Motions and Communications
The following communication was received and read:
Office of the Senate Majority Leader
September 19, 2007
Pursuant to Joint Rule 3, the Senate having non-concurred in the House substitute (H-3) to Senate Bill 418, appoints the following members to sit on the conference committee:
Senator Mark Jansen
Senator Wayne Kuipers
Senator Samuel Thomas III
Thank you for your prompt consideration of this matter.
Respectfully yours,
Michael D. Bishop
Majority Leader
State Senate, 12th District
The communication was referred to the Secretary for record.
The following communication was received:
Department of Labor and Economic Growth
September 18, 2007
As Director of the Department of Labor and Economic Growth, I take great pleasure in forwarding to you the eighth legislative report as required by statute on the activities and the progress of survey and remonumentation in the State of Michigan.
1990 PA 345 created the Survey and Remonumentation Commission, and 1990 PA 346 provided the funding for survey and remonumentation. Since the original Commission was appointed in June 1991, a statewide Model County Plan for county remonumentation has been developed and Administrative Rules for Act 345 have been promulgated by the Department and adopted by the Legislature. Including grants offered in 2007, $89.768 million in grants has been made available to all 83 counties in the State of Michigan.
Details of these activities are included in the enclosed report. If you have any questions regarding the survey and remonumentation program, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
Keith W. Cooley
Director
The communication was referred to the Secretary for record.
The Secretary announced that the following official bills were printed on Wednesday, September 19, and are available at the legislative website:
Senate Bill Nos. 780 781 783 790 791 792 793
House Bill Nos. 5243 5249 5252 5253 5254 5255 5256
Senator Cropsey moved that when the Senate adjourns today, it stand adjourned until Friday, September 21, at 10:00a.m., and when the Senate adjourns on Friday, September 21, it stand adjourned until Sunday, September 23, at 5:00p.m.
The motion prevailed.
By unanimous consent the Senate proceeded to the order of
Introduction and Referral of Bills
Senator Jelinek introduced
Senate Bill No.794, entitled
A bill to amend 1987 PA 231, entitled "An act to create a transportation economic development fund in the state treasury; to prescribe the uses of and distributions from this fund; to create the office of economic development and to prescribe its powers and duties; to prescribe the powers and duties of the state transportation department, state transportation commission, and certain other bodies; and to permit the issuance of certain bonds," by amending section 11 (MCL 247.911), as amended by 1993 PA 149.
The bill was read a first and second time by title and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
Senator Jelinek introduced
Senate Bill No.795, entitled
A bill to make, supplement, and adjust appropriations for various state departments and agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007; and to provide for the expenditure of the appropriations.
The bill was read a first and second time by title and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
Senator Kahn introduced
Senate Bill No.796, entitled
A bill to amend 1956 PA 218, entitled "The insurance code of 1956," by amending section 224b (MCL 500.224b), as amended by 2005 PA 83.
The bill was read a first and second time by title and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
Senators Hunter and Gleason introduced
Senate Bill No.797, entitled
A bill to regulate the construction of certain electric generation facilities; to provide for the powers and duties of certain state and local governmental officers and entities; and to require the promulgation of rules.
The bill was read a first and second time by title and referred to the Committee on Energy Policy and Public Utilities.
Senators Hunter, Clarke, Thomas, Scott and Clark-Coleman introduced
Senate Bill No.798, entitled
A bill to amend 1967 PA 281, entitled "Income tax act of 1967," by amending section 30 (MCL 206.30), as amended by 2005 PA 214.
The bill was read a first and second time by title and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Statements
Senators Sanborn, Scott and Switalski asked and were granted unanimous consent to make statements and moved that the statements be printed in the Journal.
The motion prevailed.
Senator Sanborn's statement is as follows:
You know, Mr.Governor, when I was a young man, my father taught me an important lesson that I believe all of us in Lansing could be reminded of. He told me that there is a difference between a man looking busy and being busy. He went on to say that when it comes to deciding who you should trust, you should always look to the man who is busy rather than the man who just looks busy. The man who is busy is a hard worker; he's honest because he makes no attempt to deceive you. On the other hand, the man who spends time looking busy does no real work other than that of deception. I'm afraid that too many people in this town are spending their time looking busy rather than being busy. The worse case of this happened just this past weekend on the other side of this building. The House met for days, yet ten members refused to even put their votes up on the board with regard to moving a House tax plan. Mr.Governor, this is not leadership, and this certainly is not courage. Whatever their reasons were, they failed in their duties as representatives of the people.
The time is growing short for us to resolve the budget, and anybody who believes we can risk a shutdown of government needs to leave their office and hear some of the voices of their constituents rather than their staffs and the Lansing insiders. I don't need a poll to tell me that if government shuts down on our watch, we will rightfully be held accountable by the residents of this great state. Michigan cannot afford a shutdown, and to make sure that we all realize this, I propose that as we move towards October 1 without a solution in place that the legislators, that the Governor, the legislative staffs, the Governor's staff, and the department directors all forego their pay until this issue is resolved. Maybe if we start to feel the pain that many of Michigan residents are already feeling, we will realize that it is time for us to be busy on real solutions. As they say of a bacon-and-egg breakfast, while the chicken is dedicated, the pig is 100 percent committed. It's time for us to commit ourselves to being busy until we get the budget done, and maybe sharing some of the financial pain is exactly what we need to do to accomplish this. If we go to the table with a lower level of motivation than 100 percent commitment, government will shut down and Michigan's economy will be as dead as the pig at a bacon-and-egg breakfast.
I plead with you. Don't shut government down. Continue to pay the cop on the beat, the teacher in the classroom, the protective services worker on the front line defending our children, and, yes, that pensioner sitting on a front porch in Ossineke, Michigan, who is waiting for his pension check. We as legislators have called for merit-based pay for teachers in the classroom, yet we haven't suggested that we do so for ourselves. Next week is it, gang. Then we shut down government or we move towards a continuation budget. If we are forced to use a continuation budget, we must work around the clock without pay since this will raise the level of motivation from dedication to 100 percent commitment, and then, Mr.Governor, maybe we'll get the job done.
Senator Scott's statement is as follows:
Mary Church Terrell, the amazing African-American civil rights activist, said at the age of 75, "Keep on moving, keep on insisting, and keep on fighting injustice." Well, Miss Terrell and I are on the same path because I, too, plan to keep on moving, keep on insisting, and keep on fighting injustice when it comes to the unfair and burdensome insurance rates that are being foisted on the residents of Detroit and Michigan. I only wish that I could inspire you, my colleagues, to keep on moving. Nothing ever got accomplished through inertia, a fact that we witnessed throughout the summer months.
I see that TV show where folks in need are helped out with new homes, and at the end that Ty Pennington fellow always yells, "Move that truck." Well, you have the great opportunity to help thousands of folks in dire financial straits if you would only move those bills.
Senator Switalski's statement is as follows:
Mr.President, I do believe a lot of those things are included in the bill that we just passed.
But I rise on another matter to announce an opportunity for all members to participate in a little bipartisan cooperation--an opportunity that is both precious and rare during these tense days. Senator Ron Jelinek, a Republican and highly-esteemed chair of Appropriations, and I, the often-maligned and beleaguered Democratic vice chair of Appropriations, have joined forces to offer a bipartisan eleven-bill package that will improve standardized testing in K-12 schools while saving us potentially $25 million.
We share a vision of an improved test. We want to move toward a standardized test used nationwide so Michigan can measure itself against school systems in other states. I believe we will excel in that comparison and thus attract people to our state.
We share a bipartisan vision of a test where teachers, students, and parents get test results days after a test, not months; where the test itself takes hours, and not days, to administer; and where ultimately the state testing bureaucracy would cost us $10 million and not $66 million.
Those are the visions out there of where we would like to get, but we have some very practical things in the NonpartisanLounge that would begin the step toward getting there. We do this by eliminating superfluous exams, duplicative practice tests, and customized add-ons that obscure comparability to other states. We encourage personal responsibility by requiring contributions from those desiring specialty tests or retakes. Rather than annually creating our own test which is suigeneris, not comparable to any other state, or required for admission to a single university, we seek to reap the benefits of privatization, buying a test off the shelf produced by national experts for a fraction of our current costs.
We are currently locked in rancorous budget negotiations, and there is a significant gap between what each side is offering. We hope members will look at these bills as an opportunity to reform testing and make a contribution toward closing that gap. Is there a better way for you to spend your next ten minutes?
Please stop by the Nonpartisan Lounge and join us in providing another example to the people of Michigan that Democrats and Republicans can work together and improve education and find savings by raising efficiency.
Scheduled Meetings
Economic Development and Regulatory Reform - Monday, September 24, 10:00a.m., Dundee Village Office, 350West Monroe Street, Dundee (373-7670)
Judiciary - Tuesday, September 25, 12:30p.m., Room 210, Farnum Building (373-6920)
Senator Cropsey moved that the Senate adjourn.
The motion prevailed, the time being 12:36p.m.
In pursuance of the order previously made, the President, Lieutenant Governor Cherry, declared the Senate adjourned until Friday, September 21, 2007, at 10:00a.m.
CAROL MOREY VIVENTI
Secretary of the Senate