Legislative Leaders–Minus Speaker Leonard–Answer Questions About How Michigan’s Doing
Republican and Democratic leaders discuss “Nassar bills,” marijuana legalization, and whether its time to end term limits.
State lawmakers have had a somber and colossal question to answer in the aftermath of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal at Michigan State University: what can the state do to make sure something like this never happens again?
Now, two bills in response to the Nassar scandal are headed to the Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk. The legislation would increase the amount of time a child victim of sexual assault would have to sue in civil court. It would also give prosecutors more time to file charges in those cases.
Although the bills passed almost unanimously, some Senators are calling the bills a “watered down” version of what they originally proposed.
Will the state’s response to this scandal do enough to protect people from this kind of abuse and empower survivors?
Three of the state’s top legislative leaders join Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson to talk about those bills and other issues. Henderson speaks with state Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof (R-West Olive), state Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich (D-Flint), and state House Minority Leader Sam Singh (D-East Lansing).
Absent from the panel is state House Speaker Tom Leonard (R-DeWitt), who declined requests to take part in the panel for the second year in a row.
Meekhof, Ananich, and Singh also discuss proposed work requirements for Medicaid recipients, whether or not it’s time to end or amend legislative term limits, and the prospect of lawmakers passing a petition-initiated proposal to legalize recreational marijuana before it has a chance to go before voters in November.
Click on the audio player above to hear the full conversation.
WDET’s Mackinac Policy Conference coverage is sponsored by The Henry Ford.
