Final briefs filed on whether House must send bills to Whitmer

The final legal briefs were filed Tuesday in a lawsuit that pits state Senate Democrats against House Republicans for failing to send bills adopted by both chambers to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The arguments will now be reviewed by a Michigan Court of Claims judge.

The brief filed on behalf of Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) accused House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.) and Republicans of “a brazen attempt to place themselves above the law — indeed, above the State Constitution” by sitting on nine bills adopted at the end of the last session.

The policies at stake include exempting public assistance payments from debt collection, public employee pensions and health benefits, and allowing a voter-approved regional millage for Detroit museums.

The legal and constitutional issue is whether there’s a loophole that could allow a chamber to indefinitely hold onto bills even after they’ve been passed by the House and the Senate. Senate Democrats say the Michigan Constitution is clear that all bills adopted by both chambers must go to the governor and that refusing to forward the bills is effectively a veto, which is a power exclusively exercised by the governor.

“The constitution is clear: Every bill passed by the Legislature shall be presented to the governor before it becomes law,” said Brinks in a statement. “And there is no shortage of precedent: For at least 150 years, Michigan governors have signed bills after the adjournment of the legislative session at which they were passed.”

Brinks was referring to the House Republican argument that one session of the Michigan Legislature cannot bind a future legislature.

“If there is any obligation at all to present a bill to the governor, that obligation must belong to the legislature that passed the bill — not a subsequent and wholly distinct legislative body, which cannot be legally bound by its predecessor,” reads the House Republican argument filed earlier this week.

Hall has said there is no controversy because the House is holding the bills to review for possible technical flaws, although there would be no way to fix any problems without new legislation in this new term.

The House Republicans also argue that Hall cannot be sued for actions taken in his role as speaker and that this is an internal controversy within the legislative branch and the judiciary courts should stay out of it.

Under the Michigan Constitution, the governor has 14 days to sign or veto a bill once it is delivered to her desk. But there is no specific deadline for the Legislature to send the bill once it is adopted.

Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel is expected to rule soon to clear the way for appeals. She could order oral arguments before making a decision.