LANSING — The state Legislature fell into further dysfunction Wednesday, with half of the House skipping session and hopes dwindling for the passage of significant policies before the end of the year.
All 54 House Republicans have been absent since Friday when they walked out over policy demands, while one Democrat, Rep. Karen Whitsett of Detroit, also skipped session, denying Democrats the 56-member quorum they need to conduct any legislative business.
A handful of Republicans, including incoming House Speaker Matt Hall, held a press conference at a nearby restaurant, indicating that at least half a dozen members could come back for votes if negotiations with Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, advance.
“If Joe Tate will put up bills that matter to the people of Michigan, like fixing our roads, improving our sick leave policies for workers and fixing the tip system and saving our restaurant workers, we’ll come in and vote,” Hall said.
Republicans have demanded a legislative response to upcoming changes to the state’s tipped wage and sick time policies. Those changes will eventually bring the tipped wage to the same level as the minimum wage, and are set to begin Feb. 21.
Michigan’s constitution requires any bill going through the Legislature to sit in each chamber for at least five days, meaning that any bill not passed through one of the chambers by the end of the day Wednesday is effectively dead, unless lawmakers add session days between Christmas and New Years.
The Senate is scheduled to meet Monday, Dec. 23, but advocates are pessimistic that they’ll be able to approve anything significant.
“At first, we saw the Republican caucus walk out of the House, really throwing a tantrum that they weren’t getting their way instead of actually showing up and doing their jobs,” said Denzel McCampbell. “There’s not a worker in Michigan who could just walk out on a job and not do what their duty is.”
“Folks have elected our legislators to vote and act on their behalf, and then we see certain members of the Democratic caucus doing the same, walking out in the middle of the votes,” McCampbell continued. “That’s not what folks need. Folks need to show up and do their jobs.”
Additional demands from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have further complicated matters.
According to capitol news service MIRS, Whitmer said that she wouldn’t sign any new bills into law unless the Legislature moved forward economic development and road funding proposals.
Republican leader Hall reiterated his caucus’s demands Wednesday morning, saying that he and Whitmer may share common ground on the issues delaying legislative progress.
“Kudos to governor whitmer for taking a stand on that, because that’s very similar to our position,” he said. We want to work on meaningful issues in lame duck like fixing our roads, saving our tips, saving our restaurant industry.”
Adding fuel to the fire, Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel posted on Facebook that the absent members may be in violation of the law, saying that Republicans and Whitsett are engaging in “literally criminal” activity by skipping on session.
Lawmakers ended session around 3 p.m. Wednesday. The House is set to reconvene at noon on Thursday.
The Senate remained in session Wednesday afternoon, but what legislation will be approved this week, if any, is anyone’s guess.