(WXYZ) — Several bills that would help police officers, teachers, and other public workers are still stuck in legal limbo. They are the bills that the widow of a fallen Michigan State Police Motor Carrier officer has been championing for months, and Wednesday was the deadline to get those passed bills to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s desk.
After Michigan State Police Motor Carrier Officer Daniel Kerstetter was killed after an SUV slammed into his police vehicle during a traffic stop last September, his widow has made it her mission to fight for his co-workers.
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“If I can help his colleagues and all police officers get treated the way they should be treated, and compensated the way they should be compensated, then it's not all for nothing,” said Katie Kerstetter.
Kerstetter has spent hours lobbying Lansing leaders to send several bills that were passed by both the House and the Senate in the final hours of 2024 to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s desk so they can be signed into law.
One of the bills that passed would allow MSP Motor Carrier Officers, State Department of Corrections Officers, Conservation Officers and others the option of buying into the Troopers’ pension program. That’s a benefit Kerstetter calls essential for the many law enforcement officers who don’t make enough to be able to set money aside for their 401ks.
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The bills would also improve health care costs for public employees including teachers.
But when the new legislature took over in January, Speaker of the House Matt Hall (R-Kalamazoo) held nine of the enrolled bills back, putting them under legal review.
So, the Senate sued the House over the stalled bills. In late February, Court of Claims Judge Sima Patel issued a judgment saying the Constitution requires that all bills passed by the legislature must be presented to the governor. But the judge stopped short of forcing the House to present the bills, saying the courts should not interfere with exactly how the bills get presented.
Last week, the House passed a resolution, directing the Clerk of the House of Representatives to only present to the governor enrolled House bills passed by both houses of the 103rd legislature. The nine bills were passed and enrolled by the 102nd legislature.
“We can only present bills that were passed by both chambers in the 103rd legislature — that’s all we can do. And what a mess from the Democrats — they didn’t even present bills,” said Hall during a press conference Wednesday.
On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) sent a letter demanding that either the House comply with the judge’s order or hand the bills over to the Senate. Brinks also says other House Speakers in the past have presented enrolled bills that were passed by the previous legislature.
“The concerns about the Constitution are incredibly important. And I certainly hope that people recognize that this is not a political argument. This really is an argument about the integrity of the folks you elect to represent you,” Brinks told 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.
On Tuesday, the Senate passed their own resolution, changing their procedures to ensure they can send the bills to the Governor if they can get them back from the House.
“That was the suggestion of the judge to ensure that we have the ability to do that. We did change our rules,” said Brinks. “We are trying to use every single tool available to us to indicate the importance and our willingness to make sure these bills that were passed by both chambers go through the constitutionally prescribed process and get presented to the governor for her consideration.”
Rep. Hall sent his own letter to Brinks, telling her they won’t go back to finish the business of the last legislature.
Both the House and the Senate have filed appeals in the courts. So far, no hearing date has been set. The Senate is asking to be allowed to take the case directly to the Michigan Supreme Court.
If you have a story for Heather Catallo, please email her at hcatallo@wxyz.com