March 9, 2012 MichiganVotes.org Weekly Roll Call

MichiganVotes.org sends a weekly report to newspapers and TV stations around the state showing how state legislators in their service area voted on the most important or interesting bills of the past week. Y = Yes, N = No, X = Not Voting

House Bill 4929, Ban using public school resources to deduct union dues: Passed 20 to 18 in the Senate; Passed 56 to 54 in the House
To prohibit school districts from using public resources (including their payroll processing systems) to deduct union dues or fees from employees’ pay, and then sending the money to a union. This practice is the current norm, so the bill would require unions to make alternative arrangements to collect dues from school employees. The Senate added a small appropriation, which makes the bill "referendum-proof" under a 2001 state Supreme Court decision. 
-  In the Senate, Republicans Casperson, Caswell, Colbeck, Green, Nofs and Proos joined all Democrats in voting "no."
-  In the House, Republicans Glardon, Graves, Horn, Muxlow, Poleski, Shaughnessy and Tyler joined all Democrats in voting “no.”

Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No" in the Senate

Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No' in the House

House Bill 4246, Limit unionization of student research assistants: Passed 26 to 12 in the Senate; Passed 63 to 47 in the House 
To establish that state university graduate students who work as research assistants are not considered government employees for purposes of enrolling them into a union, if their work terms do not meet an IRS "20 factor test" for employee status. Originally introduced with a different purpose, the Senate amended this bill in a parliamentary maneuver to get the provision into law before U of M student researchers are unionized in an upcoming Michigan Employment Relations Commission meeting.

Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No" in the Senate

Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No" in the House

Senate Bill 877, Authorize prison privatization: Passed 20 to 18 in the Senate
To allow, but not require, the Department of Corrections to privatize a prison, but only if it would save at least 10 percent. This could include a contract with a private prison in Baldwin whose previous state contract was revoked by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in 2005. Republicans Casperson, Caswell, Emmons, Hildenbrand, Jones, and Nofs joined all Democrats in voting “no.”

Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"

House Bill 4859, Give LP gas companies immunity from customer improper use: Passed 90 to 20 in the House
To extend immunity from liability to LP gas companies and employees for injuries or death to a customer who modifies, repairs or uses equipment improperly.

Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"

Interested in a cumulative list of all weekly Roll Call Report Votes for 2012?

SOURCE: MichiganVotes.org, a free, non-partisan website created by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, providing concise, non-partisan, plain-English descriptions of every bill and vote in the Michigan House and Senate. Please visit https://www.michiganvotes.org.

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