Bill Text: MI SB0442 | 2009-2010 | 95th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Public employees and officers; other; restrictions on expenditure of proceeds of lawsuit settlements; establish. Amends sec. 33 of 1846 RS 12 (MCL 14.33).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-04-21 - Referred To Committee On Judiciary [SB0442 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2009-SB0442-Introduced.html

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SENATE BILL No. 442

 

 

April 21, 2009, Introduced by Senators PRUSI, THOMAS, ANDERSON, BRATER, SCOTT, OLSHOVE, CHERRY, HUNTER, BASHAM, JACOBS, GLEASON, CLARKE, CLARK-COLEMAN and SWITALSKI and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1846 RS 12, entitled

 

"Of certain state officers,"

 

by amending section 33 (MCL 14.33), as amended by 1996 PA 563.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 33. (1) All moneys received by the attorney general, for

 

debts due, or penalties forfeited to the people of this state,

 

shall be paid by him or her, immediately after receipt, into the

 

state treasury.

 

     (2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, any proceeds

 

from a lawsuit settlement entered into by a state agency,

 

department, division, bureau, board, commission, council,

 

authority, or other body in the executive branch of state

 

government or an individual acting on behalf of the executive

 

branch of state government as the result of an action instituted on

 

behalf of the state against a private individual or business or any

 

other private organization shall be deposited into a restricted

 

fund to be used as provided by law after appropriation. In case of

 

a conflict between this section and If this section conflicts with

 

another state or federal law that requires of this state or of the

 

United States requiring allocation to a specific fund or account or

 

for a specific purpose or purposes, that other state statute or

 

federal law shall prevail prevails.

 

     (3) Except as otherwise provided by a law of this state or of

 

the United States, the department of attorney general shall not

 

agree as part of the settlement of a lawsuit or administrative

 

enforcement action on behalf of this state, the people of this

 

state, a state entity, or an individual or officer acting on behalf

 

of this state against a private individual, business, or other

 

entity, to accept the payment of money, goods, services, or other

 

benefits to a third party or parties in lieu of a debt or

 

obligation otherwise due to this state or the people of this state.

 

Any money paid to settle a debt or obligation owed to this state or

 

the people of this state, or paid in lieu of a debt or obligation

 

otherwise due to this state or the people of this state, or goods

 

or services offered to settle claims on behalf of this state or the

 

people of this state shall be deposited in the state treasury

 

immediately after receipt and shall not be available for

 

expenditure or disbursement until appropriated. This subsection

 

does not apply to settlement money or goods disbursed by a court-

 

approved claims administrator directly to consumer members of a

 

class action lawsuit brought by the attorney general in his or her

 

parens patriae capacity, if the disbursement is judicially

 

authorized and is made following a notice period and fairness

 

hearing or to supplemental environmental projects secured on behalf

 

of the department of environmental quality.

 

     (4) On a quarterly basis, the attorney general shall report to

 

the state budget office and the appropriations committees for both

 

the house and senate the case names and corresponding attorney

 

general case file numbers, court docket numbers, and presiding

 

courts for every matter that the attorney general settled during

 

the preceding quarter. The attorney general shall report the total

 

settlement value for each case reported. The attorney general shall

 

itemize each settlement to additionally reflect all of the

 

following:

 

     (a) The aggregate Michigan consumer recovery.

 

     (b) The value of restitution paid on behalf of the state or

 

any state or federal department or agency whose interest was

 

resolved in the case.

 

     (c) Amounts recovered for civil penalties.

 

     (d) Amounts recovered for attorney fees.

 

     (e) Amounts recovered as reimbursement for the costs of

 

investigation. If the attorney general settled a case in the prior

 

quarter for nonmonetary proceeds, he or she shall indicate the

 

identity and value of proceeds so received for each case as

 

provided in this section.

 

     (5) The proceeds of any settlement entered into on behalf of

 

this state shall not be used for advertising or a public service

 

message that includes a reference to, or the image or voice of, an

 

individual holding or a candidate for a state elective office.

 

     (6) (3) As used in this section, "proceeds" means a cash

 

settlement. Proceeds does not include real property or stocks,

 

bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness unless these items are to

 

be converted into cash as part of the settlement or payments to be

 

made to a specifically designated party as a result of the

 

settlement of a contractual dispute between the state and a party

 

or parties to a contract with the state.