(Source: MIRS.news, Published 04/13/23) A month after it looked as if Republicans were going to notch their biggest policy wins of the 2023-24 session, a pair of boutique business tax cuts and a couple other reforms they received for supplying votes for the Ford supplemental are stuck in neutral.
Legislation ending Michigan's sales and use tax on delivery and installation services passed both the House and Senate but have been sitting in the House Clerk's office for three weeks.
Bills exempting industrial processing machinery and equipment from sales and use tax are stuck in the Senate, as are bills giving the Republican minority appointments on the Michigan Strategic Fund Board and another requiring the Michigan State Police to create a background check program that businesses can use to check on prospective employees.
MIRS has learned the House Republicans and the Senate Democrats are in a Mexican standoff over the specific bills that make up the package.
Apparently, members of the Senate Democratic caucus are objecting that Rep. Jamie Thompson (R-Brownstown), a polarizing figure in Republican politics Downriver and an officeholder in a politically competitive seat, received one of the industrial processing bills.
They would prefer a different bill accomplishing the same thing be passed as part of a package, but the House Republicans are claiming a deal is a deal and they're not going to supply a single vote to advance a bill sponsored by a Senate Democrat until the Thompson bill passes.
That includes SB 159, a companion bill sponsored by Senate Majority Floor Leader Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) dealing with the elimination of the instillation and delivery tax. Without Republican support, the bill doesn't have the votes to pass. House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) isn't going to send the other two bills in the package -- Rep. Pat Outman (R-Six Lakes)'s HB 4137 and Rep. Kevin Coleman (D-Westland)'s HB 4253 -- to the Governor's office until the Singh bill is ready to go, too.
"The Speaker is fully prepared to send the bill as soon as the House Republicans are prepared to vote on the Singh bill," said Tate spokesperson Amber McCann.
But that support isn't happening because House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Kalamazoo) said he doesn't see the Senate Democrats as living up to their end of the bargain.
"Let's honor the deal and we're happy to support Senate bills," Hall said. "No Senate bill gets our support as long as they're not honoring their deal."
Hall also said he's concerned that the Senate Democrats are substituting Tate's judgment over who should get a public act from this agreement with their own.
"We're happy to support a bill from Sam Singh, who is late to the party," Hall said. "But until we see some performance from Senate Democrats, I don't see any reason to support this or any other bill.
Senate D's didn't want to discuss the situation publicly, although one source said there's much more to the story and the Republicans are trying to create a wedge when there isn't one there.
The standoff threatens to further delay the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget until the matter is resolved.
