Michigan State Senate

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Michigan State Senate


General Information
Type:   Upper house
Term limits:   2 terms (8 years)
2012 session start:   January 11, 2012
Website:   Official Senate Page
Leadership
Senate President:   Brian Calley, (R)
Majority Leader:   Randy Richardville, (R)
Minority leader:   Gretchen Whitmer, (D)
Structure
Members:  38
   Democratic Party (12)
Republican Party (26)
Length of term:   4 years
Authority:   Art IV, Sec. 2, Michigan Constitution
Salary:   $79,650/year + expenses
Elections
Last Election:  November 2, 2010 (38 seats)
Next election:  November 4, 2014 (38 seats)
Redistricting:  Michigan Legislature has control
Meeting place:

Contents

The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. It consists of 38 members who are elected from districts that have an average of 260,096 residents, as of the 2010 Census.[1] After the 2000 Census, each member represented 261,538 residents.[2] The Senate meets at its capitol in Lansing

Senators are elected at the same time as the governor and serve four-year terms concurrent with the governor's term of office. Senate and gubernatorial elections are offset by two years from U.S. Presidential elections (e.g., Presidential elections were in 2000 and 2004, gubernatorial and senate elections were in 2002 and 2006). Terms for senators begin on January 1, following the November general election. Senators who have not served more than half of someone else's Senate term are eligible for two full terms (i.e. - eight years).

Sessions

Article IV of the Michigan Constitution establishes when the Michigan Legislature, of which the Senate is a part, is to be in session. Section 13 of Article IV states that the legislature is to convene on the second Wednesday in January of each year. Section 13 gives the Legislature the power to determine its date of adjournment through concurrent resolution.

2012

See also: Dates of 2012 state legislative sessions

In 2012, the Senate will be in session from January 11 though a date yet to be determined.

Major issues

For the first time in years, legislators are anticipating an estimated $1 billion surplus. They are expected to consider proposals regarding autism, concealed weapons, elder abuse, mining and ending the personal property tax. Controversial "right-to-work" legislation may also be on the table.[3]

2011

In 2011, the Legislature will be in session from January 12 through mid December. A specific date is yet to be decided by the Legislature. [4] The 348 calendar days that the Michigan Legislature is in session during 2011 is the longest legislative session in the country.[5]

Session highlights

In the 2011 session, Michigan was a key battleground on corporate taxes. Governor Rick Snyder had made promises during his campaign to eliminate the “Michigan Business Tax,” which was costly and difficult to calculate. Governor Snyder delivered, replacing the tax with a flat 6 percent corporate income tax. The state will recover the $1.8 billion in lost business tax revenues with $1.5 billion in higher personal income tax revenues. Current Michigan law requires the state income tax to drop to 3.9 percent by 2015. Governor Snyder's measure keeps the income tax rate at its current 4.35 percent until January 1, 2013, when it will drop to 4.25 percent. During 2011, Michigan also became the first state in more than 50 years to cut state-level unemployment benefits. [6]

2010

In 2010, the Senate convened its session on January 13th, and it remained in session throughout the year.[7]

Elections

2010

See also: Michigan State Senate elections, 2010

Elections for the office of Michigan Senate were held in Michigan on November 2, 2010. The signature-filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was May 11, 2010 and the primary election day was on August 3, 2010.

Members eligible for 2010 re-election

District Representative Party Residence
5 Tupac Hunter Democratic Detroit
6 Glenn Anderson Democratic Westland
13 John Pappageorge Republican Troy
17 Randy Richardville Republican Monroe
19 Michael Nofs Republican Battle Creek
23 Gretchen Whitmer Democratic East Lansing
27 John Gleason Democratic Flushing
28 Mark Jansen Republican Gaines Township
32 Roger Kahn Republican Saginaw Township


In 2010, the candidates running for state senate raised a total of $16,309,515 in campaign contributions. The top 10 donors were: [8]

Donor Amount
Senate Republican Campaign Cmte of Michigan $2,652,845
Michigan Senate Democratic Fund $808,605
Wenke, Lorence $415,100
Trebesh, Michael Frederick $353,093
Mridha, Debasish $344,773
Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association $198,846
Michigan Chamber of Commerce $169,110
Michigan Education Association $163,425
Michigan Bankers Association $149,150
Michigan Association of Realtors $123,450

Qualifications

Section 7 of Article 4 of the Michigan Constitution states, "Each senator and representative must be a citizen of the United States, at least 21 years of age, and an elector of the district he represents. The removal of his domicile from the district shall be deemed a vacation of the office. No person who has been convicted of subversion or who has within the preceding 20 years been convicted of a felony involving a breach of public trust shall be eligible for either house of the legislature."

Vacancies

Whenever a vacancy occurs in the Senate, it is up to the Governor to call for a special election. A special election must be held during the next scheduled general election[9]. If the vacancy happened after the statewide primary, leaders of the respective party organizations within the Senate district can submit a list of nominees to be voted on by party leadership. A vote must be held no later than 21 days after the vacancy[10].

Term limits

See also: State legislatures with term limits

The Michigan legislature is one of 15 state legislatures with term limits. Voters enacted the Michigan Term Limits Act in 1992. That initiative said that Michigan senators are subject to term limits of no more than two four-year terms, or a total of eight years.

The first year that the term limits enacted in 1992 impacted the ability of incumbents to run for office was in 2002.[11]

Senators

Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

As of 2011, members of the Michigan Legislature are paid $71,865/year. Legislators can use up to $10,800/year for expenses.[12]

The $71,865/year that Michigan legislators are paid as of 2011 is a decrease from a salary of $79,650 from the 2010 session, which was the same as they were paid during legislative sessions in 2007. Per diem is also the same.[13][14]

Partisan composition

See also: Partisan composition of state senates
Party As of February 2012
     Democratic Party 12
     Republican Party 26
Total 38


Leadership

The Lieutenant Governor serves as the presiding officer of the Senate, known as the President of the Senate. The president can only vote when there is a tie. In the absence of the President, the President Pro Tempore presides. The President Pro Tempore, Assistant President Pro Tempore, and Associate President Pro Tempore are elected by a vote of a majority of the Senators.[15][16]

Current leadership

Position Representative Party
President of the Senate Brian Calley Republican
State Senate President Pro Tempore Tonya Schuitmaker Republican
State Senate Assistant President Pro Tempore Goeff Hansen Republican
State Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville Republican
State Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dave Hildenbrand Republican
State Senate Majority Floor Leader Arlan Meekhof Republican
State Senate Assistant Majority Floor Leader Phil Pavlov Republican
State Senate Majority Caucus Leader Rick Jones Republican
State Senate Assistant Majority Caucus Leader Patrick Colbeck Republican
State Senate Majority Whip Jack Brandenburg Republican
State Senate Assistant Majority Whip Darwin Booher Republican
State Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer Democratic
State Senate Assistant Minority Leader Steven Bieda Democratic
State Senate Minority Floor Leader Tupac Hunter Democratic
State Senate Assistant Minority Floor Leader Hoon-Yung Hopgood Democratic
State Senate Minority Caucus Leader Morris Hood Democratic
State Senate Assistant Minority Caucus Leader Coleman Young Democratic
State Senate Minority Whip Vincent Gregory Democratic
State Senate Assistant Minority Whip Virgil Smith Democratic

List of current members

District Representative Party Residence
1 Coleman Young Democratic
2 Bert Johnson Democratic
3 Morris Hood Democratic
4 Virgil Smith Democratic
5 Tupac Hunter Democratic Detroit
6 Glenn Anderson Democratic Westland
7 Patrick Colbeck Republican
8 Hoon-Yung Hopgood Democratic
9 Steven Bieda Democratic
10 Tory Rocca Republican
11 Jack Brandenburg Republican
12 Jim Marleau Republican
13 John Pappageorge Republican Troy
14 Vincent Gregory Democratic
15 Mike Kowall Republican
16 Bruce Caswell Republican
17 Randy Richardville Republican Monroe
18 Rebekah Warren Democratic
19 Michael Nofs Republican Battle Creek
20 Tonya Schuitmaker Republican
21 John Proos Republican
22 Joe Hune Republican
23 Gretchen Whitmer Democratic East Lansing
24 Rick Jones Republican
25 Phil Pavlov Republican
26 David Robertson Republican
27 John Gleason Democratic Flushing
28 Mark Jansen Republican Gaines Township
29 Dave Hildenbrand Republican
30 Arlan Meekhof Republican
31 Mike Green Republican
32 Roger Kahn Republican Saginaw Township
33 Judy Emmons Republican
34 Goeff Hansen Republican
35 Darwin Booher Republican
36 John Moolenaar Republican
37 Howard Walker Republican
38 Tom Casperson Republican

Standing Senate Committees

Michigan State Senate
Senate Committees

Agriculture • Appropriations
Banking and Financial Institutions
Economic Development
Education • Energy and Technology
Families, Seniors and Human Services • Finance
Government Operations
Health Policy • Insurance • Judiciary
Outdoor Recreation and Tourism
Local Government and Elections
Natural Resources, Environmental and Great Lakes
Redistricting • Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing
Regulatory Reform • Transportation
Veterans, Military Affairs and Homeland Security

House Committees


The Michigan Senate has twenty (20) standing committees:

Decommissioned committees

External links


Wikipedia has an article on:

References

  1. ↑ Population in 2010 of the American states
  2. ↑ Population in 2000 of the American states
  3. ↑ Detroit News, "Michigan Legislature sets priorities in new session," January 12, 2012
  4. ↑ Michigan State Legislature Sessions Schedule
  5. ↑ South Carolina Policy Council "50 State Legislative Session Interactive Map," February 2011
  6. ↑ Stateline.org, States balance budgets with cuts, not taxes, June 15, 2011
  7. ↑ 2010 session dates for Michigan legislature
  8. ↑ Follow the Money: "Michigan Senate 2010 Campaign Contributions"
  9. ↑ Michigan Legislature "Michigan Election Law"(Referenced Statute 168.178, Michigan Compiled Laws)
  10. ↑ Michigan Legislature "Michigan Election Law"(Referenced Statute 168.634 (1)-(2), Michigan Compiled Laws)
  11. ↑ State legislative term limits
  12. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2011 Legislator Compensation Data"
  13. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2010 Legislator Compensation Data"
  14. ↑ Empire Center, "Legislative Salaries Per State as of 2007"
  15. ↑ Michigan State Senate Rules - Chapter 1 Section 1: Senate Organization
  16. ↑ [1]
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