Gov’t Affairs News: Lawmakers head home for the holidays

Happy Holidays

The legislature adjourned this week for the year and will not return until Wednesday, Jan. 10. Accordingly, our government affairs updates will be put on hold until after the holidays. We will send updates on an as-needed basis until legislators return.

The legislature headed home a week earlier than usual, giving lawmakers, legislative staff, and those of us around the Capitol an extra week to shop for the holidays. We’ve drilled the importance of buying nearby into legislators, so hopefully you’ll see some of them in your stores this week.

Traditional December back-and-forth results in retail wins

Several items MRA was watching and working on made it all the way through the legislative process before legislators headed home earlier this week. Legislation must be approved by committees in both chambers and by the full chamber in the House and Senate before it can be enrolled and presented to the governor. Each December, legislators scramble to check lingering items off their to-do lists resulting in a back-and-forth volley of bills between the two chambers. There is often some trading involved in order to get bills back from the House that Senators sponsored or vice versa. The following items MRA supports were given approval and now head to the governor’s desk:

• Retail fraud cost-recovery: Legislation MRA has supported over the span of several terms that would further discourage retail theft is finally headed to the governor’s desk. SB 44 will add retail fraud and organized retail crime to the list of crimes that a judge can order convicted individuals to reimburse law enforcement for the time and resources used to investigate the crime. The legislation gives law enforcement additional incentive and resources to address the ongoing problem of retail fraud and organized retail crime. Under the bill, courts can order cost recovery from individuals who steal or attempt to steal more than $200 worth of merchandise or have previously been convicted of retail theft.
• Unemployment fraud reforms: Bills that make a number of reforms to the Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency and the unemployment insurance program head to the governor’s desk this week. The bills are seen as a fair but fragile compromise between unemployment claimants and employers that addresses issues both groups are currently facing. The legislation, HB 5165–5172, strengthens the identity verification process, establishes a prompt and thorough process for handling imposter claims, implements a consistent communication method for notifying employers when they are not responding quickly enough and could be penalized, and modifies the penalties for fraudulent claims to ensure they can be recouped rather than dismissed.
• Opioid reforms: Legislative approval of SB 47, SB 166–167, SB 270, SB 273–274, HB 4403, and HB 4406–4408 was a big win for the governor, who was hoping to get bills that seek to address the opioid crisis on his desk before Christmas. Nearly the entire package of opioid reforms MRA has been watching was approved. Of greatest importance is a bill requiring physicians to check the Michigan Automated Prescription System (MAPS) before writing a prescription for pain medication containing opioids. Also included are requirements for patient and student education, prescribing limits on opioids for chronic and acute pain sufferers, as well as requiring physicians to have an established relationship with a patient before writing a prescription for opioids to cut down on doctor shopping.
• Urban grocery incentives: Senate approval of HB 4207 this week helped send a program creating grants for urban grocery store improvements to the governor’s desk. The bill seeks to address food deserts by allowing both new and existing stores to apply for grants for store improvements. In order to be eligible for the grants, new stores must be at least one mile away from an existing store.

Senate approves bill codifying anti-competitive half-mile rule

The Senate approved legislation last week that would codify an anti-competitive rule into law referred to as the half-mile rule. The rule, created by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC), prohibits the issuance of a liquor license to a store if there is an existing store with a liquor license within a half mile. The MLCC has decided to rescind the rule because of its anticompetitive nature and the fact that no other licenses are given that same protection. The potential rescission has prompted those who benefit from the rule, current liquor license holders, to fight to keep the policy alive.

SB 501, the legislation approved by the Senate, attempts to update the rule to allow the commission to use GPS to determine the half-mile radius rather than the current, complicated measuring process done along streets from door-to-door. The bill also includes several exemptions from the rule:

• If the existing licensed store purchased less than $100,000 in spirits from the MLCC within the last calendar year (this amount is increased from the current $10,000 threshold under the current rule and it would be adjusted each year for inflation);
• If the existing license is for an entity holding a Class A or Class B Hotel license;
• If the two stores are separated by four or more lanes of traffic; and
• If the new store is at least 20,000 square feet and is either located in a shopping center that has at least 150,000 square feet of retail space or derives at least 20 percent of its sales from food

MRA remains opposed to any attempts to codify this rule and was pleased that the House adjourned without the House Regulatory Reform Committee considering the legislation. It’s possible the House may consider the bill when it returns in January, but we do not believe there is enough support on the committee to report the bill. Next step: House Regulatory Reform Committee. | MRA Position: Oppose.

Other important items to note: