House Bill 5094, Ban credit bureaus charging for security freeze: Passed 35 to 1 in the Senate

To prohibit consumer credit rating agencies from charging a fee to place, remove or temporarily lift a security freeze on an individual who requests this. Under current law these agencies can charge $10 unless the consumer has filed an identity theft-related police report. The bill was introduced following a security breech at the Equifax agency that reportedly put 140 million individuals at risk of identity theft.

Senate Bill 799, Require state revenue estimators to estimate prisoner counts and costs: Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate

To require the biannual state revenue estimating conferences to include estimates of the coming year’s prison population, prison capacity, payroll and cost per prisoner.

House Bill 5463, Ban selling or delivering nitrous oxide to minors: Passed 104 to 3 in the House

To ban selling or delivering nitrous oxide to individuals under the age of 18, subject to a $500 fine. Current law bans selling or delivering nitrous oxide (laughing gas) for purposes of getting high, but reportedly young people are buying N2O cartridges and devices that use it in food preparation applications.

House Bill 5531, Expel students who commit sex crimes: Passed 93 to 14 in the House

To expand the law requiring the mandatory suspension or expulsion of pupils for certain violence or weapons offenses to also include committing criminal sexual conduct against another student. Specifically, a student who is guilty of committing a criminal sexual conduct violation against another student would be prohibited from attending the same school as the victim.

House Bill 5407, Require defendant be present for victim impact statements: Passed 105 to 2 in the House

To require that the criminal defendant be present in court at the time a victim exercises his or her right under state law to make an oral victim impact statement in felony cases. The victim could also choose to have the defendant excluded.

House Bill 5234, Authorize probation for medically frail prisoners: Passed 99 to 9 in the House

To let county sheriffs request and a court grant probation for a prisoner who is physically or mentally incapacitated due to a medical condition that renders the prisoner unable to perform activities of basic daily living, and/or the prisoner requires 24-hour care. Also, to let county sheriffs ask and a court grant a compassionate release if a physician determines the prisoner is not expected to live more than six months.

House Bill 4101, Authorize parole for “medically frail” prisoners: Passed 94 to 14 in the House

To allow medically frail prisoners whose condition makes them “a minimal threat to society” to be paroled to a hospital, hospice, nursing home or other suitable accommodation for the balance of their term.

Senate Bill 353, Preempt local bans on employers asking about past wages: Passed 62 to 46 in the House

To expand a law that prohibits local governments from restricting what prospective employers can ask on a job application. Among other things a local government could not prohibit an employer from asking about a prospective employee's previous salary history during a job interview.

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 www.MichiganVotes.org.

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