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House OKs ethics reform with financial disclosure, lobby limits
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Lansing Amid debate over whether the legislation went far enough, Michigan House members on Wednesday passed 13 bills and one joint resolution that proponents hope will boost transparency and ethics among lawmakers.
The bills seek to create an ethics committee in each chamber, to require confidential financial disclosures from members and to prevent legislators and senior administration officials from lobbying for two years after leaving office.
The bills move to the Senate next, where Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, has expressed concerns that financial disclosure requirements could discourage people from running for office.
Unfortunately we can t bring George Floyd back, Chang told Bridge Michigan on Tuesday, the anniversary of his death. We can t bring back Breonna Taylor. We can t bring these individuals that we ve lost to police violence, but we can make changes that could prevent those tragedies from happening.
Among the bills, Senate Republicans are lead sponsors on proposals that would ban police officers from using chokeholds, except to save a life, and would establish a clear and legal duty to intervene for officers that witness colleagues abusing their authority.
Democratic-sponsored measures would ban the use of no-knock warrants, except in certain circumstances, and require the state to set new standards for training officers in de-escalation techniques and ways to avoid implicit bias.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Republican legislative leaders on Thursday announced the framework of an agreement to open budget negotiations, give lawmakers input into future pandemic restrictions and drop potential permanent COVID-19 workplace regulations.The deal may finally ease longstanding…
Michigan Lawmakers Propose $500M to Repair Dams After Breach By David Eggert | May 21, 2021
LANSING, Mich. (AP) Michigan lawmakers on Wednesday proposed spending $500 million to repair aging dams a year after a hydroelectric dam failed to hold back floodwaters in the Midland area, causing more than $250 million in damage, draining lakes and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate their homes.
Pending legislation would create four new funds dedicated to dams. The money would help cover repairs related to the disaster, upgrade high-risk dams elsewhere, fund responses to future disasters and draw federal match funding to rehabilitate or remove dams.
Policy bills would add requirements for dam owners, including that they can financially handle potential problems and that they keep operation, monitoring and safety records. Higher-risk dams would be inspected more frequently than lower-risk structures.