June 28, 2017, Introduced by Senator CASPERSON and referred to the Committee on Government Operations.
A bill to amend 1986 PA 268, entitled
"Legislative council act,"
(MCL 4.1101 to 4.1901) by amending the title and by adding chapter
7C.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
TITLE
An act to create the legislative council; to prescribe its
membership, powers, and duties; to create a legislative service
bureau to provide staff services to the legislature and the
council; to provide for operation of legislative parking
facilities; to create funds; to provide for the expenditure of
appropriated funds by legislative council agencies; to authorize
the sale of access to certain computerized data bases; to establish
fees; to create the Michigan commission on uniform state laws; to
create a law revision commission; to create a senate fiscal agency
and a house fiscal agency; to create a Michigan capitol committee;
to
create a commission on intergovernmental relations; legislative
budget agency; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state
agencies and departments; to repeal certain acts and parts of acts;
and to repeal certain parts of this act on specific dates.
CHAPTER 7C
LEGISLATIVE BUDGET AGENCY
Sec. 791. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Fiscal bill" means a bill that would require this state
or local units of government to provide activities and services
that create more than a de minimus new cost or increased cost to
this state or local units of government. The legislative budget
agency and the chairperson of the committee to which a bill is
referred may designate a bill as a fiscal bill.
(b) "Fiscal note" means a written estimate of the costs,
savings, revenue gain, or revenue loss that may result from the
implementation of a fiscal bill.
(c) "Local unit of government" means a political subdivision
of this state.
(d) "Proposal" means a plan or an activity that is under
consideration by a member of the legislature. A proposal shall not
be considered published until it is authorized for release by the
member of the legislature requesting the preparation of the
proposal.
(e) "Special report" means a report that is requested by a
member of the legislature to be prepared by the legislative budget
agency. A special report shall not be considered published until it
is authorized for release by the member requesting the report.
Sec. 792. (1) The legislative budget agency is created as a
nonpartisan agency to be of service to all members of the
legislature. The legislative budget agency shall monitor introduced
bills and prepare fiscal notes as provided in section 793 and shall
prepare an annual financial report as provided in section 794.
(2) The legislative budget agency shall be governed by a
governing board of 6 members of the legislature. The members of the
governing board are as follows:
(a) The senate majority leader.
(b) The senate minority leader.
(c) The chairperson of the senate appropriations committee.
(d) The speaker of the house of representatives.
(e) The house minority leader.
(f) The chairperson of the house appropriations committee.
(3) The members of the governing board of the legislative
budget agency shall meet quarterly. In addition to the quarterly
meetings, the governing committee shall meet within 7 days upon
request of 2 or more members of the governing committee made to the
speaker of the house of representatives or the senate majority
leader.
(4) Except as otherwise provided by subsection (5), a writing
prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or retained by the
legislative budget agency in the performance of an official
function must be made available to the public in compliance with
the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.
(5) An employee of the legislative budget agency shall not
reveal to any person who is not an employee of the legislative
budget agency the contents or nature of any bill, substitute,
amendment, resolution, special report, or proposal not yet
published unless the employee has the consent of the member who is
sponsoring or requesting the bill, substitute, amendment,
resolution, special report, or proposal. A bill is considered
published when it is introduced. A substitute, an amendment, or a
conference report is considered published when received by the
secretary of the senate or the clerk of the house of
representatives, or both, as applicable.
(6) An employee of the legislative budget agency is a
nontenured, at-will employee. The governing committee of the
legislative budget agency may discipline, transfer, demote,
suspend, or summarily discharge an employee.
(7) The legislative budget agency, the senate fiscal agency,
and the house fiscal agency shall act in concert.
(8) The members of the governing board listed in subsection
(2)(a) and (d) shall designate representatives for each type of
local unit of government to assist the legislative budget agency in
preparing fiscal notes. The representatives described under this
subsection must be apportioned according to the various population
sizes, geographical locations, and unique needs of the local units
of government.
Sec. 793. (1) Except in a state of emergency declared by the
governor, a fiscal bill must not proceed to the third reading if
the fiscal note for that fiscal bill concludes that the costs for
compliance with that fiscal bill are indeterminate or not capable
of being reasonably estimated.
(2) A fiscal bill must not be passed by either house of the
legislature before the members of that house have been provided the
fiscal note for that fiscal bill and sufficient time to review that
fiscal note.
(3) In each fiscal note, the legislative budget agency shall
project cost estimates for a 5-year period from the effective date
of a fiscal bill and shall state whether or not costs or diversions
will be involved after that period. If an amendment to a fiscal
bill or a substitute of a fiscal bill is adopted, the legislative
budget agency shall update the fiscal note for that fiscal bill.
Sec. 794. The legislative budget agency shall prepare an
annual financial report that reconciles the costs estimated in a
fiscal note with the actual costs incurred and that provides an
updated 5-year cost estimate. The legislative budget agency shall
provide the appropriations committee of each chamber with the
annual financial report.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.