New bills give and take away powers, and more

LANSING – Bills that give power to some and take it from others were introduced last week by lawmakers at the state Capitol.

A pair of bills would give arrest powers and authorize carrying weapons for some employees of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Other bills would take away judges' ability to take certain driving crimes under advisement, but give the judges the chance to sentence someone to jail or a fine, or both.

Midwives would be licensed and regulated, and school officials would be allowed discretion in suspension and expulsion rules under other bills introduced.

Some of the other bills introduced by senators and members of the House of Representatives last week include the following.

House

■ HB 4688-89: Make it a felony to fail to report that a child is missing or has died, punishable by up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Sponsor: Rep. John Bizon, R-Battle Creek

■ HB 4690: Requires smaller class sizes — up to 17 students per class in grades K-3 and up to 25 in grades 4-12 — in schools that have underperformed for three consecutive years. Sponsor: Rep. Erika Geiss, D-Taylor

■ HB 4691: Prohibits the sale of human breast milk over the Internet. Sponsor: Geiss

■ HB 4692: Requires teaching African-American history in schools. Sponsor: Rep. Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, D-Detroit

■ HB 4693: Prohibits the use of state promise grants at universities or community colleges if the institution does not admit students who are within the top 15% of their high school class. Sponsor: Gay-Dagnogo

■ HB 4694 and SB 387: Prohibit the placement of deep-injection waste wells in certain areas. Sponsors: Rep. Jason Sheppard, R-Temperance, and Sen. Dale Zorn, R-Ira

■ HB 4695: Exempts trucks carrying potable water from seasonal weight restrictions. Sponsor: Sheppard

■ HB 4696: Prohibits a city with a population of at least 500,000 and with 1,000 police (Detroit is the only city that qualifies) from bargaining terms of employment with anything other than the official bargaining unit. Sponsor: Rep. Fred Durhal II, D-Detroit

■ HB 4697: Prohibits school suspension and expulsion policies that don't include discretion for school officials. Sponsor: Rep. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor

■ HB 4698-99: Provide for gender-identification change on drivers' licenses and state identification cards. Sponsor: Rep. Brian Banks, D-Detroit

■ HB 4700-01: Require a publicly accessible online database of contracts and services entered into by the state with taxpayer dollars and public disclosure of contracts worth more than $500,000. Sponsors: Reps. Martin Howrylak, R-Troy, and Scott Dianda, D-Calumet

■ HB 4702-05: Require a cost study and public disclosure of the impact of privatizing state services, establish specific performance criteria for privatized state contracts, allow state workers to provide pre-privatization cost benefit analysis and prohibit bad corporate actors from being awarded state contracts. Sponsors: Reps. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan; John Kivela, D-Marquette; Pam Faris, D-Clio, and Peter Lucido, R-Shelby Township

■ HB 4706: Sets rules governing state collection of city income taxes. The state has agreed to begin administering Detroit's income tax collections. Sponsor: Rep. Wendell Byrd, D-Detroit

■ HB 4707-08: Make violations of the state's dog law dealing with dogs running in public unsupervised a civil infraction, rather than a misdemeanor. Sponsor: Lucido

■ HB 4709: Replaces the term "human monstrosity" with "a human being who is disabled or disfigured" in a law that makes it a misdemeanor to display people with deformities. Sponsor: Bizon

■ HB 4710: Makes violating rules on camping on state campgrounds a civil infraction, instead of a misdemeanor. Sponsor: Rep. Andrea LaFontaine, R-Columbus

■ HB 4711: Gives judges discretion to impose either a fine, jail time or both when a criminal sentence includes imprisonment and a fine. Sponsor: Rep. Michael Webber, R-Rochester Hills

■ HB 4712: Extends authority for treatment by physical therapists to chiropractors. Sponsor: Rep. Kathy Crawford, R-Novi

■ HB 4714: Requires the state Department of Treasury to provide notice of certain tax credits given to a business. Sponsor: Rep. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake

■ HB 4715 and SB 397: Prohibit employers from requiring disclosure from employees on the use of contraceptives. Sponsors: Rep. Marcia Hovey-Wright, D-Muskegon, and Sen. Jim Ananich, D-Flint

Senate

■ SB 382: Provides for compensation and benefits for spouses of public safety officers injured in the line of duty. Sponsor: Sen. Morris Hood III, D-Detroit

■ SB 383: Provides for licensing and regulation of midwives. Sponsor: Sen. Mike Green, R-Mayville

■ SB 384: Allows for the appointment of agents with arrest powers and ability to carry weapons in the Department of Health and Human Services. Sponsors: Sens. Peter MacGregor, R-Rockford, and Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge

■ SB 385: Prohibits judges from taking under advisement certain crimes committed by drivers of both commercial and noncommercial vehicles. Sponsor: Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba

■ SB 391: Raises the minimum wage to $15 per hour by Jan. 1, 2018. Sponsor: Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Highland Park

■ SB 392: Creates rules and regulations for transportation services like Uber and Lfyt. Sponsor: Jones

■ SB 393: Increases fees for special license plates for auto dealerships and car transporters. Sponsor: Hood

■ SB 394: Includes townships and modifies Michigan housing law regarding inspections of rental units. Sponsor: Sen. Dave Robertson, R-Grand Blanc

■ SB 395: Establishes income tax credits for certain housing modifications. Sponsor: Sen. Vincent Gregory, D-Southfield

■ SB 396: Increases fines for overweight and oversized vehicles. Sponsor: Sen. Hoon Yung-Hopgood, D-Taylor

■ SB 398: Requires Department of Health and Human Services to create a sickle cell disease public awareness campaign. Sponsor: Ananich

Contact Kathleen Gray: 517-372-8661, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal

Want to know more?

To get more information and track the progress of bills, go to www.legislature.mi.gov.

To contact legislators, go to:

house.michigan.gov/MHRPublic/

www.senate.michigan.gov/senatorinfo.html