By AMY DRUMM, MRA Vice President, Government Affairs
As December creeps closer, it looks more and more possible that the traditional “lame duck” session that follows the election may not happen this year. Lame duck is typically an extremely busy period of time when nothing is off the table. Bills and policies that appeared dead earlier in the year or session come back to life, new ideas get thrown out and everything happens quickly.
Typically, there are just three weeks to complete any loose ends, which means a lot happens and it happens very quickly. But 2020 could be different, partly because it seems each week there’s news of another legislator testing positive for COVID-19. With no changes in the power dynamic at the Capitol (Republicans retained control of the state house), few items must get done before the end of the year.
In past lame duck sessions, MRA has closely monitored and advocated for legislation, including our Main Street Fairness legislation, which passed the legislature at 2 a.m. the last morning lawmakers were in session in 2014. It’s a chance to wrap up loose ends and for lawmakers who won’t be returning to make their last mark on the legislative process. To stay involved in the process, MRA and other groups camp out at the Capitol to monitor legislative progress and stay involved in ongoing negotiations and discussions.
This year with social distancing requirements, that won’t be possible. So, a “lame, lame duck” as Gov. Whitmer is calling for, wouldn’t be such a bad thing for retailers.
Retailers have mostly been able to accomplish the policy goals we set out for at the beginning of this legislative session. Marketplace fairness and Wayfair codification legislation was approved and signed into law last December. A pharmacy priority to pass legislation preventing fraudulent prescriptions by requiring them to be sent electronically to the pharmacy was signed into law this spring. These overwhelmingly bipartisan policy priorities were accomplished early in the session and both are beneficial in a COVID-19 world: creating tax parity between online and in-person sales and preventing unnecessary touches/waiting at the pharmacy.
In fact, the governor and lawmakers should be especially appreciative of this since by capturing sales taxes on third-party sales on marketplace websites, the state was able to bring in more sales taxes than usual. While MRA hated to see retail doors shut and pushed back hard to get all retail reopened, the state was still collecting taxes on those online sales where they hadn’t before, which helped bail out state tax revenues. You’re welcome, State of Michigan.
More directly on the COVID front, liability relief was signed into law in October, ensuring that businesses following COVID-19 guidance to the best of their ability could not be sued. With MRA’s priorities checked off, we’re mostly watching out and advocating against potentially harmful legislation instead. And a canceled or lame, lame duck prevents much of that from getting an opportunity to come up.
The only things really on the agenda that still need to be accomplished are focused on COVID-19: extending the temporary unemployment benefits, workshare flexibility and efforts to avoid businesses from being penalized for COVID-related unemployment claims. These reforms, passed in October, are slated to expire on Dec. 31 and need to be revisited by the current legislature before they adjourn for the year.
Also on our radar is the potential to codify some additional flexibilities for pharmacies that were granted via executive order this spring. Legislation was introduced this spring that could accomplish that goal and it’s uncertain if MDHHS has the power to extend those flexibilities via epidemic order.
In a crazy year with ever-changing rules, eliminating the chaotic legislative crush that is lame duck wouldn’t be so bad for retail.
