ELECTION-RELATED FORGERY

House Bill 5992 (proposed substitute H-3)

Sponsor:  Rep. Steve Marino

Committee:  Elections and Ethics

Complete to 6-7-18

SUMMARY:

House Bill 5992 would add a section to the Michigan Election Law stating that, except as otherwise provided in the Law, a person who does either of the following for any purpose under the Election Law is guilty of forgery:

·         Knowingly makes, files, or otherwise publishes a false document with the intent to defraud.

·         Knowingly makes, files, or otherwise publishes a document that contains false signatures with the intent to defraud.   

Proposed MCL 168.933a

FISCAL IMPACT:

House Bill 5992 would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on the state and on local units of government that would depend on the number of individuals convicted of forgery under its provisions. According to Section 937 of the Michigan Election Law, any person found guilty of forgery will be punished by a fine of up to $1,000 or by imprisonment for up to  5 years, or both, in the discretion of the court. In Fiscal Year 2017, the average cost of prison incarceration in a state facility was roughly $37,000 per prisoner per year, a figure that includes various fixed administrative and operational costs. State costs for parole and felony probation supervision averaged about $3,600 per supervised offender in the same year. The fiscal impact on local court systems would depend on how provisions of the bill affected caseloads and related administrative costs. Any increase in penal fine revenues would increase funding for local libraries, which are the constitutionally designated recipients of those revenues.

                                                                                        Legislative Analyst:   Jenny McInerney

                                                                                                Fiscal Analyst:   Robin Risko

■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.