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Committee advances joint resolution aimed at limiting lame-duck legislation
Summary
The House Government Operations Committee reported House Joint Resolution A with recommendation after testimony from sponsor Rep. Anne Bolen, who said the measure would curb controversial late-session legislation by raising thresholds for action during lame duck periods.
The Michigan House Committee on Government Operations on Wednesday reported House Joint Resolution A with recommendation after testimony from sponsor Representative Anne Bolen.
Representative Anne Bolen, sponsor of House Joint Resolution A, told the committee joint resolutions "are used to propose amendments to the Michigan Constitution and require two‑thirds majority vote in each chamber to pass. Joint resolutions are not considered by the governor and they are rare." She said the proposal is a narrowly tailored response to what she described as a rise in consequential lame‑duck activity during the most recent session.
Bolen told the committee that in the most recent lame‑duck period "44% of the bills passed during the entire session... were during lame duck and mostly along party lines," and said the resolution is intended to prompt earlier, bipartisan work rather than concentrating controversial measures at the end of the term. "Important legislation should not be delayed until lame duck for political purposes or personal gain," she said.
Committee members asked about unintended consequences. Representative Mike McFaul said he supported the idea in principle but worried some bills are delayed because of scheduling or committee backlog and that raising thresholds might inadvertently block otherwise noncontroversial measures. Bolen responded that the resolution "will prompt all of us to start working a little smarter, and ahead of time to get those hearings and... get the stakeholders' input."
The committee adopted a motion to report House Joint Resolution A with recommendation. The roll call recorded three yea votes and two passes; the clerk announced "3 ayes, 0 nays, 2 pass. The motion prevails." The resolution now moves forward with the committee's recommendation.
The committee also adopted its procedural rules at the start of the meeting and adopted the chair's chosen regular meeting location (Room 307) and day/time as the normal daytime meeting site.
Bolen said the measure had previously received wide margins of support when introduced earlier and invited questions before the committee voted to report the resolution. No formal amendments to HJRA were offered during this hearing; the committee's action was to report with recommendation.
House Joint Resolution A now proceeds to further consideration as a reported item from the Government Operations Committee; the committee record shows it was reported with recommendation.
