The GOP sponsor of the House bill told Bridge he sees the issue another way.

“It makes cities less safe to not cooperate with (federal immigration agents)...to get rid of some individuals who are in some cases very violent,” said Rep. Jim Runestad of White Lake.

“Immigration is the purview of the feds. It is not the purview of local government to make immigration laws.”

Living and prevailing wage

At least a half-dozen Michigan communities have “living wage” laws – requiring employers that do business with the local government to pay workers an amount sufficient to meet basic living expenses, typically several dollars above the state minimum wage for 2017 of $8.90 an hour.

For example, Washtenaw County set its living hourly wage for 2016-17 at $12.93 for workers with health insurance, $14.43 for workers without insurance. Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ferndale, Warren, Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township have similar laws. Supporters say the laws benefit the community by making it easier for local workers to afford housing and be self-supporting.

But a bill signed into law in 2015 by Gov. Rick Snyder bars more local governments from passing these wage laws, and from passing minimum-wage laws above the state level. It also bans cities from forcing employers to provide paid or unpaid sick leave.

That state law was also backed by the Michigan Chamber, which argued that varying municipal wage and benefit requirements make it difficult for companies to operate in different communities.

“Potentially, 1,800 different local units of government could have adopted their own regulation,” said Block, the chamber lobbyist.

The sponsor of the bill, (now former) state Rep. Earl Poleski, R-Jackson, echoed that argument, saying the state should step in when local standards may disrupt business.

“It’s a better idea to have a consistent rule with regard to wages and benefits,” he said. “In the long run, that protects business and employees.”

But Ferndale’s mayor, Dave Coulter, a Democrat, said he sees it otherwise, arguing that his city’s living wage mandate has been good for the community.

“We have not heard from business in Ferndale that this is an unfair burden,” Coulter said. “In fact, we have found that a living wage has been a helpful tool that assures the economic development we are generating actually translates to better wages for the folks who are doing the work.”

Salary histories

The Michigan Chamber also backs a state Senate bill that would prevent cities and towns from barring employers from asking certain questions in a job interview. New York City approved such an ordinance in May, banning employers from asking applicants about their salary history. Supporters contend it would close the gender wage gap by helping ensure women with low-paying job histories wouldn’t continue to receive low salary offers.

There’s no such law in Michigan. But bill sponsor state Sen. John Proos, R-St. Joseph, said he wants to make sure some version of New York’s law doesn’t happen here.

“This is intended to ensure that local municipalities are not meddling in the interests of employers and employees, in the interview process in this case.

“The intent is that we don’t end up with a regulatory patchwork across Michigan. It needs to be managed on a state level.”

Cigarette sales to young adults

In Ann Arbor, city commissioners voted 9-2 last August to make the city the first in Michigan to ban the sale of cigarettes to individuals under 21. It joined more than 200 cities in 16 states with similar bans. Currently, state law requires cigarette buyers to be at least 18.

Washtenaw County Public Health officials, citing evidence from other cities, said the Ann Arbor measure would cut down on youth smoking and “save lives.”

A report on youth smoking in the American Journal of Public Health cited a study in Needham, Mass., which raised the minimum age for buying cigarettes to 21 in 2005, the first to do so. A subsequent study found that the rate of high school smokers fell by 47 percent in the four years after the measure went into effect.

But in February, GOP Attorney General Bill Schuette wrote an opinion contending that Ann Arbor’s law conflicted with a 1972 law that established “the age of majority” at 18.

While not addressing the possible health benefit of raising the smoking age to 21 ‒ except to say it “may be a laudable goal” ‒ Schuette’s opinion said the state law trumps Ann Arbor’s ordinance.

“Any revision in this law must come from the Legislature,” his opinion stated. Schuette weighed in on the law at the request of state Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge.

Dr. Jessie Kimbrough Marshall, medical director at Washtenaw County Public Health, declined to comment on Schuette’s legal analysis. But she said the Ann Arbor law was “a reasonable measure based off science. I think it’s reasonable for local communities to put measures in place to protect its public.”

Gun control

State Rep. Gary Howell, R-North Branch, wants to make sure the state has final say over gun control.

He introduced a bill in May that bars local government from enacting or enforcing any gun law that conflicts with state law or the Constitution. Any local official who knowingly enforces such an ordinance would be subject to fines up to $7,500. The measure is backed by the National Rifle Association.

Howell said the impetus for his bill was “cities, villages and townships (that) have continued to enact…illegal ordinances” that he said violate the state’s generous gun laws.

“This places an unfair burden on gun owners who would have to defend themselves in court at their own expense in order to prove that any citations issued against them are invalid,” Howell testified before the House Committee on Local Government.

Howell did not return Bridge’s multiple requests for comment.

Backers of the bill point to cities like Grand Rapids, which bans the carrying of loaded firearms in any public place except by law enforcement. Then-Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell said in 2013 the law may well violate state law, but said the city had no interest in changing it.

Plastic bags

In June 2016, Washtenaw County commissioners approved a 10-cent fee on disposable carryout bags at retail stores, a measure intended to reduce landfill waste and cut down on pollution from plastic.

With prodding from corporate interests, Republican legislators in Lansing acted before it could take effect.

On Dec. 28, GOP Gov. Brian Calley (filling in for Gov. Rick Snyder, who was out of state) signed a Republican-backed measure banning local governments from imposing such fees. It was approved by large GOP majorities in both the state House and Senate. Democrats opposed the bill 11-1 in the Senate and 43-4 in the House.

The bills were backed by the Michigan Restaurant Association, which saw their passage as a victory for chain restaurants and retailers.

MRA Vice President Robert O’Meara also cited the burdens association members would face from “a patchwork approach of additional regulations” in Michigan.

Grocery retail giant Meijer Inc. waded into the fray as well, its political action committee sending a $20,000 contribution to the Senate Republican Campaign Committee the same day a Senate committee began debate on the measure.

The Senate Republican Campaign Committee also got $2,500 from the PAC for the Michigan Retailers Association and $1,000 for the PAC for the Associated Food and Petroleum Dealers.

“I get the politics behind it,” LaBarre, the Washtenaw County commissioner, said of the state law voiding the plastic bag fee.

“I’m not naive. I think it negates the principle of a division of power.”