Thursday, April 18th, 2024

I voted NO on HB 4842 (Rep. Price) Would amend 1964 PA 183, which regulates the State Building Authority (SBA), to eliminate the requirement that pools of obligations issued by the authority mature and become fully payable to the creditor or creditors within five years. EXPLANATION: Not enough time was given to deliberate the last minute changes that were made.

PASSED: 83-22

I voted NO on HB 5392 (Rep. Lightner) Would extend the sunset date on trial courts’ ability to impose court costs when sentencing a criminal defendant, from May 1, 2024 to May 1, 2026. EXPLANATION: This bill should not be tie-barred to HB 5534, meaning that the bills should not rely on one another in order to take effect.

PASSED: 99-6

I voted NO on HB 5534 (Rep. Breen) Would create a new act titled as the “Trial Court Funding Act of 2024.” The bill would grant new powers to the State Court Administrative Office to determine the amount of court costs that can be imposed on a criminal defendant at time of sentencing. The bill would also plan for and recommend creation of a centralized state system for collecting court costs imposed by local trial courts. Finally, the bill would plan and recommend creation of a new system for redistributing funds from local courts that operate in the black to other local courts that operate in the red. EXPLANATION: The laundry list of communist buzzwords in this tie-barred bill is as long as they come; central planning, robin hooding, redistribution of wealth, new powers, removing local control, surrender. Instead of a government solution to a government made problem, the state should restore the court’s ability to arrest convicted criminals for nonpayment.

PASSED: 58-47