November 8, 2013, MichiganVotes Weekly Vote Report

Senate Joint Resolution V, Call for U.S. balanced budget amendment convention: Passed 26 to 12 in the Senate

To submit an application to Congress calling for a "convention to propose amendments to the U.S. Consitution," limited to proposing an amendment that prohibits the federal government from spending more in any fiscal year than it collects in tax and other revenue (balanced budget amendment). Legislatures representing two-thirds of the states must request this to get a convention, and three-quarters of the states must approve any amendment proposed by an “Article V” convention for it to become part of the constitution. The resolution names 17 states that have submitted applications.

Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"

Senate Bill 652, Establish state Appeals Court as venue for suits against the state: Passed 57 to 52 in the House

To establish that the venue for all legal claims against state agencies, commissions, boards, etc. (the state “court of claims”), will no longer be the Ingham County circuit court, and instead will be the state Court of Appeals (which consists of 24 judges elected in four regional elections).

Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"

House Bill 5050, Ban credit card fraud "skimming" devices: Passed 109 to 0

To authorize criminal penalties for the use of a "skimmer" device to gain access to a person's financial accounts (for example, when using an ATM machine). This and other bills in a legislative package would authorize the same penalties as a 2012 law banning "automated sales suppression devices" for falsifying electronic cash register records (called “zappers”): Five years and a $25,000 fine for a first offense, increasing to 15 years for a third and subsequent offenses.

Who Voted "Yes" and Who Voted "No"

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.

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy are properly cited.