It’s another edition of “the good, the bad, and the ugly” from the Michigan legislature Lame Duck session. Before I get into the details, let me cut to the chase with the essential call to action.
Call To Action:
- Call Senate Leader Winnie Brinks (517-373-1801). Ask her to do two things: (a) Call a vote on Eviction Expungement (HB 5238), which has passed the House and now needs to pass the Senate. (b) Schedule a session on December 23, in order to make time for any additional bills that may pass the House this Wednesday.
- Call House Speaker Joe Tate (517-373-0857). The House is scheduled to hold a session this Wednesday. Ask him to call votes on Tenant Right to Counsel (HB 5237), Homeless Bill of Rights (HB 4919), and Manufactured Housing Reform (HB 486-492).
Now, here’s the context, beginning with the Good news:
- Source of Income protection (HB 4063) passed the Senate and now goes to the Governor’s desk for a signature. This bill prohibits landlord discrimination against tenants who hold a housing voucher.
- Eviction Expungement (HB 5238) passed the House, and now goes to the Senate. This bill seals eviction filings that do not result in an eviction judgement, and provides for eventual sealing of many eviction judgements.
- Tenant Right To Counsel (HB 5237) and the Homeless Bill of Rights (HB 4919) still have a breath of life in the House, thanks to the persistence of their sponsor, Rep. Emily Dievendorf. The House is expected to reconvene on Wednesday for one final day of voting, and these bills could see the floor then.
The Bad:
- Whatever bills pass the House on Wednesday will need to see the Senate on Monday Dec 23, and this can’t happen unless Senator Brinks convenes the Senate for that day. As of now, this is not scheduled to happen.
- The remainder of the Housing Homestretch bills, including Fair Chance Access to Housing, Junk Fee Regulation, Manufactured Housing Reform, Rental Application Reform, and the Tenant Empowerment Package, are all but dead. Strenuous opposition from landlord interests, who donated thousands to lawmakers’ campaign accounts, has been too much for our legislative champions to overcome.
The Ugly:
The blame game burst into the open yesterday, when Rep. Karen Whitsett gave an explosive interview to the capitol news outlet Gongwer, blasting Joe Tate for his record as speaker. You can read it here: “Whitsett: Tate Is A Failed Leader”
We’re no fan of Whitsett, a right-wing Democrat who is the lone holdout on the Homeless Bill of Rights. She has been notoriously selfish and unreliable over the last two years, including by blocking expanded abortion access. But she’s right about Tate.
Joey Andrews, another Democratic legislator, put it like this: “Joe Tate’s one remarkable success was uniting liberals and conservatives, labor and business, enviros and corporations in being happy to see his tenure end. Joe Tate lacks the quality of leadership. Instead in that deficit exists fecklessness, indecision, and indifference.”
In addition to his overall lack of leadership, we’re told that Tate personally prevented a vote on the Manufactured Housing package, which otherwise had the votes to pass both chambers.
Nevertheless, it’s not too late for Tate and Brinks to both do the right thing by delivering additional protections for Michigan tenants, renters and the unhoused. Please make a phone call to each of them with the requests at the top of this email. They need to hear from you to know that we haven’t given up. We’re working through the finish line and they should too.
I’ll circle back towards the end of this week or weekend, with additional updates and a final report card on this legislature.
Will