My amendment ties the bill before us to my Senate Bill No. 270, which restricts foreign purchases of our farmland. It creates a registry for farmland and allows the process to happen, but it doesn’t prevent it. If my colleagues across the aisle are eager for more regulations, this is one of the few that I am ready to support. This shouldn’t be a partisan matter, either. In February, a bipartisan group of U.S. House members sent a letter to the Agriculture Secretary condemning the federal government’s lack of oversight on such land purchases. Before we start piling additional regulations on Michigan businesses, let’s start with those from outside our shores who are buying up our agricultural land. I ask for support of my amendment.
Senator McCann’s statement is as follows:
I rise in support on Senate Bill No. 14, which would help ensure that Michigan has every tool in our toolbox to protect our state’s environment and public health. Senate Bill No. 14 repeals the no-stricter-than-federal-law, enacted in 2018, that currently keeps Michigan from establishing rules more stringent than those already established by federal law unless it clears a so-called “clear and convincing” mandate. Well this mandate is poorly defined, confusing, and presents a potential lengthy process that prevents Michigan from acting swiftly to address environmental and public health crises.
Prior to 2018, Michigan had the ability to go above federal standards to keep our natural resources and communities safer. We saw that following the Flint water crisis, when Michigan enacted a lead-and-copper rule in 2018 that set the nation’s most stringent standards for lead in drinking water. Or the time further back, when Governor Milliken went above the federal standards that limited the amount of phosphorus flowing into Lake Erie at a time when algae blooms threatened the survival of the lake.
We all know that federal standards are meant as the floor, not the ceiling. They are often the lowest standards for a state to meet. We also know that no state is monolithic, and every state has unique needs. Our Great Lakes State is certainly no exception. With Michigan’s aggressive economic-development push into electrification and the development of industries and suppliers that contribute to it, it will be even more important than ever to rapidly adjust our environmental standards to ensure the health of the Great Lakes watershed.
Every day this Legislature passes bills that recognize Michigan’s unique needs. This bill is simple. It is about restoring the necessary tools that Michigan needs to curb threats to our natural resources, protect the wellbeing of Michigan’s citizens, and be able to act promptly in doing so. Michigan’s economy thrives when our citizens are healthy and our environment is protected. I ask for your support on this.
The following bill was read a third time:
Senate Bill No. 164, entitled
A bill to amend 1961 PA 120, entitled “An act to authorize the development or redevelopment of principal shopping districts and business improvement districts; to permit the creation of certain boards; to provide for the operation of principal shopping districts and business improvement districts; to provide for the creation, operation, and dissolution of business improvement zones; and to authorize the collection of revenue and the bonding of certain local governmental units for the development or redevelopment projects,” by amending sections 10, 10b, 10c, 10e, 10f, 10g, 10h, 10j, 10k, and 10 l (MCL 125.990, 125.990b, 125.990c, 125.990e, 125.990f, 125.990g, 125.990h, 125.990j, 125.990k, and 125.990 l ), as amended by 2020 PA 91.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The Assistant President pro tempore, Senator Geiss, assumed the Chair.
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows: