Mid-November 2024 Newsletter

Hall’s Approach as Incoming Speaker: ‘I Don’t Think We Should Play It Safe’
As expected, Rep. Matt Hall (R-Richland) will lead Republicans of the 103rd Legislature in the 2025-26 term and serve as the next speaker of the House, Gongwer reported.

House Republicans elected Hall as their leader for the upcoming term during a caucus meeting after session on Thursday. As the majority party, the Republicans get to pick the speaker.

Once formally elected by the House at its opening session in January, he will preside over the term, during which Republicans will have a 58-52 majority.

"I think that one of the reasons Democrats lost their majority is because they were too afraid of losing it," he said. "The people of Michigan want us to take action. And we have some important issues that we need to work on, and I don’t think we should play it safe. I think we should take risks. I think we should push hard to get stuff done, even though it’s tough sometimes."

Hall defeated Rep. Tom Kunse (R-Clare) in the race.

Hall, the current minority leader, was first elected to the House in 2018 and served as the majority caucus chair during the 2021-2022 term.

During his first term in 2019-20, he was chair of the House Oversight Committee and the Joint Select Committee. Both committees scrutinized the state response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and were heavily critical of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s administration. Notoriously, Hall brought then-President Donald Trump’s now-disbarred attorney Rudy Giuliani before the committee to testify regarding the disputed 2020 election.

In the 2021-22 term, Hall took a quieter, more policy focused role as chair of the House Tax Policy Committee .

For the past two years, Hall has held a tight grip on his caucus. House Republicans frequently voted as a united block against Democratic priorities, up to and including the state budget. When the House was temporarily tied at 54-54 earlier this year, Hall proved a thorn in the side of House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit), effectively putting the chamber in gridlock for the first four months of 2024.

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks offered Hall her partnership in a statement Thursday afternoon.

"Caucus leaders in the majority are charged with both ushering through a productive legislative agenda and upholding the integrity of the institution we hold dear. I am proud that this has been our practice over the past two years, and I see no reason why that should change," she said. "I extend my congratulations to Speaker-elect Hall and offer him my partnership in running a legislature that effectively serves the people of Michigan."

ABC of Michigan congratulated Hall on his speakership in a statement Thursday afternoon.

"Speaker-elect Hall has been a champion of the merit shop philosophy during his tenure in the House of Representative," Shane Hernandez, president of ABC of Michigan said. "We look forward to working with the speaker-elect to close the talent gap in construction trades and to secure a prosperous future for the State of Michigan."

Governor Gretchen Whitmer also congratulated Hall and House Republicans in a statement issued Thursday.

"As governor, I’ve signed more than 1,400 bipartisan bills and enacted six balanced budgets. I’m willing to work with anyone who is serious about solving problems, and I look forward to collaborating with the incoming majority on our shared goals from infrastructure to economic development," she said. "Let’s keep centering our shared priorities – costs, roads, housing, economic development – and make Michigan a better state to live, work, and invest."

Next term, Hall said he wanted to prioritize road funding, saying that he was confident that Whitmer would be willing to work on the issue with the Republicans.

"Whitmer ran on fixing the roads," Hall said. "We need to prioritize how to permanently fund our roads. We need to do that for our local roads and bridges."

Whitmer and majority Republicans in her first four years could not come close to figuring out how to raise more revenue for roads. This term, her fellow Democrats – so far, with seven weeks remaining in the year – have done nothing on the subject even though they have the majority.

Other priorities include reducing the size of the state budget and the policy objectives outlined in the Republican Mission for Michigan plan put out before the election (See Gongwer Michigan Report, September 4, 2024).

Hall said he hoped to move forward in ways that would garner bipartisan support.

"As we’re working forward in the House, where there’s alignment with the Mission for Michigan that we’ve laid out, we’re going to make a lot of progress," he said.

Rep. Bryan Posthumus (R-Cannon Township), the current minority floor leader, was elected as majority floor leader. He was elected to the House in 2020.

"It’s imperative that we bring decorum back to the House floor," Posthumus said. "For too long, we’ve let rhetoric run the day throughout our entire country, and it’s my hope that we can calm the tempers a little bit and get back of statesmanship."

The rest of the Republican leadership team includes Rep. Rachelle Smit (R-Shelbyville) as speaker pro tempore, Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay) as associate speaker pro tempore, Rep. Brian BeGole (R-Perry) as assistant majority floor leader, Rep. Mike Harris (R-Waterford Township) as majority whip, Rep. Joe Aragona (R-Clinton Township) as deputy whip, Rep. Ken Borton (R-Gaylord) as caucus chair and Rep.-elect Nancy Jenkins-Arno of Clinton as caucus vice chair.

Rep. Bill Schuette (R-Midland) was notably absent from House Republican leadership for the next term. He was the chair of the House Republican Campaign Committee this term. With the departure of Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City) to Congress, the Senate will have an open seat sometime early next year (See Gongwer Michigan Report, November 6, 2024). Schuette is widely expected to run in the special election.

"We just got Leader Hall elected, and then we’ve got deer season coming up. We’ve got lame duck," Schuette said. "I was proud to chair the campaign effort, and there’ll be time for discussions about elections."

Bills Introduced to Amend Paid Sick Leave, Minimum Wage Laws
Stakeholders have been clamoring for lawmakers to address Michigan’s gradual increase in the minimum wage and back a move to eliminate the lower wage for workers who earn tips as well as the requirement for workers to accrue paid time off, which is set to go into effect next year.

Some businesses remain worried that the laws approved by the high court in Mothering Justice v. Attorney General (MSC Docket No. 165325) would be catastrophic on the wage and sick time fronts and want the Legislature to make changes.

A bipartisan bill package was introduced Thursday that would do just that.

Rep. Graham Filler (R-Duplain Township) and Rep. Nate Shannon (D-Sterling Heights) co-sponsored HB 6056 and HB 6057, which would modify the laws.

"This is, to me, the No. 1 issue in the state of Michigan right now, form a policy-that-needs-to-get-done-in-lame-duck standpoint," Filler said in a statement. "It’s going to blow up the restaurant industry, small businesses and the business atmosphere in Michigan in general."

Business groups applauded the legislation as a good first step.

"While the bill that was introduced is limited in scope, it is a good first step toward making sure the Earned Sick Time Act is workable for employers and employees alike," Wendy Block, senior vice president of Business Advocacy at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. "Absent action by the Michigan Legislature, employers will be forced to make drastic changes to their paid time off polices – even if they have a policy that meets or exceeds what’s required under the Act. While employers will be forced to make significant changes, it’s employees who will ultimately lose."

Advocates are asking lawmakers to exempt employers with paid leave policies that meet or exceed the number of hours required under the act, add a small employer exemption or expand the current small employee threshold, require notification prior to the start of the shift, remove language allowing a private right of action and reputable presumption and allow employers to frontload time off to avoid complicated accruals and allow for more flexibility.

"Our region’s businesses call on our legislators to take immediate action and draft clear, reasonable, and flexible legislation," said Caitlyn Stark, president and CEO of Traverse Connect in a statement. "Our business owners agree that this is not a partisan issue – without action, there will be devastating effects on the sustainability and growth of their businesses, which will cascade to the individuals and families dependent on their success."

Other Republican lawmakers pushed for the Legislature to address the issue Thursday.

"We have to solve this issue," Rep. Bill Schuette (R-Midland) said. "There is not a week that goes by where I don’t get multiple outreaches from my local small businesses and restaurants … We don’t want to be paying $35 for a slice of pizza and having everything be just a quick serve."

House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richland), the speaker-elect, also said the issue should be a priority, calling it a crisis for the restaurant industry.

"We need to act on that," he said. "We also need to look at this paid leave program that the court is forcing on us, and we have to say, ‘What are the unintended consequences for the workers?’… My hope is to do it now. I think this is the biggest thing in the state right now to face in lame duck."

House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) has not given any indication of what the House’s priorities will be before the end of the year.

Michigan House Only Chamber to Flip from D To R In Country
Republicans may have made gains in state Legislatures across the country, but Michigan is the only state that saw a legislative chamber change partisan hands in the Nov. 5 election, based on information from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and GOPAC, a pro-Republican political action committee that tracks legislative races across the country.

NCSL is reporting that – while Democrats lost control in the Minnesota House – the split is now even 67-67. But Republicans netting four seats in the Michigan House resulted in the GOP taking back control, and that’s the only place where a flip occurred.

In Maine, Senate and House Republicans bolstered their numbers, but Democrats will still retain majorities in both states, GOPAC reported.

And in Pennsylvania, Senate Republicans kept a 28-22 majority and the House majority remained 102-101 in favor of the Democrats, local media is reporting.

In Alaska, the Senate and House is projected to continue to be led by bipartisan coalitions, GOPAC reported.

ARTICLES OF POLITICAL INTEREST:

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Michigan Worked to Speed Up Election Results. Here’s Why It Still Took A While

Michigan Remains a Purple State, But Change Could Be Coming

Arab Voters in Michigan Speak Out After Harris Election Loss: "Wanted to Send a Message"

What a Second Donald Trump Presidency Means for Michigan’s Environment

Marijuana News, Updates, & Articles of Interest

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ARTICLES OF CANNABIS INTEREST:

Michigan Voters Overwhelmingly Rejected New Marijuana Business Proposals

Howell Marijuana Dispensary Narrowly Fails

Local Cannabis Firm Pushes Back Against "Defamatory" Allegations from State Regulators

MI Court Prohibits Sale of Illegal Marijuana in a Ruling Straight Out of "Duh" Magazine

Detroit Wants to Restrict Where Weed Can Be Advertised

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