LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) — Michigan’s Senate majority leader is asking a judge to step in once again in the battle of nine enrolled bills that passed the Legislature in 2024 but never got presented to the governor for signature.
Sen. Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, announced Thursday that she and the Michigan Senate are asking Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Sima Patel to enforce her previous finding that “…the nine bills that were presented by the Legislature and are under the House’s control must be presented to the Governor with sufficient time to allow her 14 days for review before the end-date of the 90-day period on which the bills could take effect.”
The deadline to get the passed bills to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was Wednesday, March 19, 2025.
House Speaker Rep. Matt Hall, R-Kalamazoo, has said he held the bills back for legal review when the new Legislature took over in January. The House recently passed a resolution directing the House clerk to only present bills from the current Legislature, not the previous Legislature.
Watch below: Bills championed by wife of fallen MSP officer hit more obstacles in Michigan 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,” Hall said during a press conference Wednesday.
Now, the Senate has filed a motion to enforce the Feb. 27, 2025 Declaratory Judgment from the Court of Claims.
“Enough is enough. How much longer are we going to pretend that it’s normal or okay for a speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives to ignore the constitution and disregard a judge’s orders? This Trump culture that has no respect for our laws, courts, or traditions has permeated far beyond the White House, and I fear the long-term repercussions for our democracy should this behavior continue. I’ve said it before and will repeat myself: the constitution is worth standing up for, and we will take this fight to the end,” Brinks said in a press release Thursday.
Several of the bills, which had bipartisan support in the last Legislature, are championed by law enforcement officers as well as the widow of a fallen Michigan State Police motor carrier officer who say some of the proposed law changes would retain officers by allowing them to opt into the MSP trooper pension plan.
“These people do it — not for the money, clearly. They do it to serve,” Katie Kerstetter said. “They need good police officers and how are you going to get good people if you don't pay them what they should be paid, and you just don't treat them well.”
Kerstetter’s husband, Daniel, was killed after a woman driving an SUV slammed into his police vehicle during a traffic stop in September 2024. Kerstetter has made it her mission to fight for her late husband’s co-workers.
It costs $75,300 to put a motor carrier officer recruit through the academy. Kerstetter says if officers don’t have an incentive to stay, taxpayers are losing out after paying for all of that training if officers leave after a few years for a job with better benefits.
“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,” Katie Kerstetter said.
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