House Bill 4805: Ban imposing “educational development plan” on home school students

Passed 101 to 5 in the House on October 26, 2017

To prohibit officials from requiring the parents of a homeschooled student who is enrolled in a public school part time and taking some public school classes (including “virtual” or online classes) to file an “educational development plan” with a public school district. These plans often but not necessarily apply to public school students who are falling behind.

Rep. Beau LaFave (R) ‘Voted Yes’

Senate Bill 609: Repeal ‘driver responsibility fees’ and give partial amnesty

Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate on October 19, 2017

To repeal the driver responsibility fees (“bad driver tax”) that are assessed for various traffic violations, effective Sept. 30, 2018. Individuals who lost their driver’s license for nonpayment of these fees could get it back (on payment of a $125 fee). Fees that have been owed for more than six years would be forgiven, but not more recent ones. These very expensive fees were originally adopted in 2003 to increase state revenues.

Note: House Bill 5040 would end the fees and give amnesty for all amounts owed, not just amounts in arrears for six years. The Snyder administration indicated the Governor would veto this due to the state revenue loss, and this bill’s partial amnesty is seen as a negotiating position on that. More than 300,000 people owe more than $600 million for these fees, much of which is uncollectible, and thousands have lost their driver’s license for nonpayment.

Sen. Tom Casperson (R) ‘Voted Yes’

Senate Bill 574: Let charter schools get some ISD enhancement millage money on October 18, 2017

To require revenue extracted by future regional enhancement property taxes that are levied by Intermediate School Districts and distributed to conventional public school districts to also be shared with public charter schools within the ISD district.

Sen. Tom Casperson (R) ‘Voted Yes’

House Bill 4457: Authorize new energy debt scheme for colleges and universities

Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate on October 17, 2017

To include state colleges and universities in the kind of debt scheme authorized by a 2016 law for school districts, which lets them contract with vendors for energy efficiency projects, and pay for these with money the projects are supposed to save (or from regular tax revenue if savings don’t appear).

Sen. Tom Casperson (R) ‘Voted Yes’

Senate Bill 98: Authorize more “promise zone” tax increment financing authorities

Passed 89 to 18 in the House on October 17, 2017

To expand from 10 to 15 the number of “promise zone” tax increment financing authorities (TIFA) located in low income and “low educational attainment” areas. These entities were authorized by a 2008 law to “capture” a portion of the state school property tax collected in the area, and use the money to partially subsidize college tuition for local students.

Rep. Beau LaFave (R) ‘Voted Yes’

House Bill 4583: Use “orphaned” fuel tank cleanup revenue for other purposes

Passed 26 to 10 in the Senate on October 10, 2017

To divert money from a 7/8 cent per gallon gas tax originally levied to pay for cleanups of leaking underground fuel tanks that were abandoned decades earlier and where no known party is liable (“orphan sites”). The bill would authorize subsidies to current fuel tank owners who are liable for contamination that occurred before 2015; to developers of “brownfield” property with leaking tanks; and to local governments for cleanups related to past road work.

Sen. Tom Casperson (R) ‘Voted Yes’

House Bill 4066: Authorize limited interstate medical licensure agreement

Passed 100 to 6 in the House on October 10, 2017

To enter an agreement with other states to facilitate doctors getting licensed in more than one state. The measure would not eliminate the need for doctors to get a separate license to practice in each state, or change current restrictions on the practice of telemedicine. It would require doctors to hold one of the board certifications marketed by certain national organizations, which would have the effect of excluding most Michigan practitioners from the proposed licensure process.

Rep. Beau LaFave (R) ‘Voted Yes’

House Bill 4508: Create a “cyber civilian corps”

Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate on October 10, 2017

To create a state “cyber civilian corps” to organize civilian volunteers with relevant experience who would provide rapid response assistance to a municipal, educational, nonprofit or business entity that needs help dealing with a cybersecurity incident.

Sen. Tom Casperson (R) ‘Voted Yes’