I like local control. I like the idea that we have the Home Rule City Act and we’ve enshrined local control in our Constitution, but I just want to point out that as much as I like local control, we’re dealing with an airborne, respiratory virus. This pandemic that was caused by an airborne, respiratory virus does not lend itself well to a balkanized, disorganized response like we’ve had in this country, which is at the heart of our failure, and this bill would guarantee that failure would continue in any future public health disaster. That’s why I’m voting “no.”
Senator Nesbitt asked and was granted unanimous consent to make a statement and moved that the statement be printed in the Journal.
The motion prevailed.
Senator Nesbitt’s statement is as follows:
I rise in support of House Bill No. 4049. In a few short weeks, many of Michigan’s children will have been out of their classrooms for a full calendar year. This even as much-touted experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci were insisting as early as Thanksgiving that it was safe for kids to be back in school across the state and across our nation. However, apparently, our Governor, who insists she’s guided by science and data, doesn’t follow the science and data. Her confounding decisions to keep schools closed months longer than necessary is just one more example of her mismanagement of this pandemic, but it is one that will have real lasting effects on Michigan’s children.
Billions of taxpayer dollars, some of which were appropriated today, will now be spent in the hopes of limiting learning loss and tackling the spike in mental health problems among students. So much of this could have been avoided if our Governor had chosen to work with members of this Legislature after the highest court in our state struck down her emergency orders last year. But instead of rolling up her sleeves and doing the hard work together, she focused instead on finding another way to bypass a co-equal branch of government, bypass us, legislators representing millions of people across the state. Instead of issuing orders herself which the court declared unconstitutional, the Governor simply had her health director do it. It was a loophole only a lawyer would love.
It’s disappointing that there’s even a need for House Bill No. 4049, but we must close this loophole to make sure no Governor tries to exploit it again. This bill ties actual science and data to school closures and empowers local health departments to determine what’s best for their students and communities. Instead of bureaucrats in Lansing who get six-figure taxpayer-funded confidentiality settlements or hush money, I ask the party and the Governor who claim they follow the science and data to join me in supporting this bill that does just that.
The following bill was read a third time:
Senate Bill No. 1, entitled
A bill to amend 1978 PA 368, entitled “Public health code,” by amending section 2253 (MCL 333.2253), as amended by 2006 PA 157, and by adding section 2253a.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows: