House Democrat Leadership was unable to pass a radical, partisan agenda due to attendance problems

State Rep. Dave Prestin on Friday applauded a bipartisan group of House lawmakers, including House Republicans and a Detroit Democrat, for their staunch opposition to the radical agenda pursued by House Democrat leadership. Last week, House Republicans pledged to withhold votes until legislation to protect tipped workers and small businesses was considered. House Democrats rejected those requests and attempted to go it alone. They failed to unify their caucus, the result of not taking up the issues most important to residents across the state.

“House Democrats were completely unwilling to do the work of the people. Instead of protecting ambulance services, small businesses, and tipped workers, they were hellbent on trying to secure driver’s licenses and state ID cards for illegal immigrants, add a ‘homeless bill of rights,’ eliminate election security safeguards, remove Michigan’s presidential electoral votes in favor of a National Popular Vote, put costly septic tank regulations and fees on homeowners, continued expansion of EGLE’s regulatory power, hike hunting and fishing license fees, release violent prisoners serving life sentences, and further infringe on our constitutional rights, among other radical policy goals,” said Prestin, R-Cedar River. “But thanks to the dedication of a bipartisan group of legislators, we were able to reject every single radical policy they tried to ram through.”

The outgoing House leadership issued a “call of the House” Thursday in a last gasp attempt to compel legislators to be present as House Democrats continue to try and ram through their partisan agenda. During a call of the House, the doors to the chamber are closed and members are prohibited from leaving, and the Sergeant-at-Arms may be sent to bring absent members to the chamber. The call was unsuccessful as Democrats could still not get the constitutionally required number of legislators to the floor to begin voting.

Prestin noted that the abrupt end to a historically unproductive session did come with legislative losses for communities across the state. Legislation to reinstate the tip credit and make changes to the looming Earned Sick Time Act to protect hospitality industry workers and local job providers were not taken up. Local emergency medical service providers will also now have to wait to be made whole after a former health care contractor for the Michigan Department of Corrections failed to pay over $6 million for services rendered to inmates in 2023 and 2024.

“If the Earned Sick Time Act goes into effect without being amended, employers will have no recourse for employees that no-call, no-show,” Prestin said. “The impacts that could have on any industry is enormous, but it’s especially significant with public safety. How can a hospital keep consistent staffing if critical personnel don’t show up for their shift without any notice? These same concerns hold true for police, fire, EMS, and even public works. The public depends on these services being on the job. It’s unfortunate that the outgoing House leadership didn’t see addressing these issues as important.”

Prestin said finding solutions to issues like these is a top priority for him in the new year. Officials with Kinross EMS, which services 650 square miles of the Eastern Upper Peninsula, recently said they may be forced to close by the end of the year if they do not receive the roughly $450,000 owed to them.

“Lansing Democrats don’t realize the devastating effects a single EMS agency closing in the U.P. would have,” Prestin said. “One ambulance could be responsible for hundreds of miles on a given day. That’s just not something people living in big cities downstate have a good grasp on. It’s not just that the people of the Upper Peninsula will face longer response times. There is a very real possibility that rural U.P. EMS agencies may have no units available to help people facing medical emergencies.”

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