COLUMN: Republican roll call ruling the right call
On Monday, Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Clinton Canady III issued a ruling saying Michigan House Republicans can no longer ignore Democrats’ requests to take a roll call vote on motions for immediate effect on bills.
Per the state constitution, a bill that is passed does not go into effect until 90 days after the end of the legislative session, unless two-thirds of both the House and Senate vote to give it immediate effect. Because of their supermajority in the Senate, Republicans usually have a guarantee of immediate effect passing on that side.
Historically, both Democrats and Republicans have used the method of asking members to stand in support of an immediate effect motion; the chairperson then says that, in his opinion, a sufficient number has risen and declares the motion passed.
But now, Democrats are unhappy with some bills the GOP is passing, so they have begun asking for roll call votes on immediate effect motions. So far, the Republicans have largely ignored these requests when they know they do not have two-thirds support.
Under Rule 12 of the House rules, a roll call vote may be requested by one-fifth of members present. To prove that they have one-fifth support for a roll call vote, House Democrats have collected signatures, but the request has still been ignored by the Republican leadership.
So on Monday, Judge Canady put a stop to this practice, and his ruling is right. As the party which encourages “rule of law,” Republicans ought to be above blatant partisan cheating to get their way in the legislature.
But this is not merely the fault of the GOP. For years, Democrats did the same thing, and it became precedent to ignore the rules. Both parties had a consensus that this was okay until Democrats became unhappy with what was being passed.
The Republicans will not be in control forever, and now that Democrats have cried “foul,” they are going to have to play by the rules in the future.
This back-and-forth partisan gamesmanship only hurts the legislature’s chances of passing good laws to help our state. House Minority Floor Leader Kate Segal (D-Battle Creek) told reporters, “The whole point of this has been this is trampling of the constitution, and it's time for this process to stop.”
That statement is just as partisan as the Republicans’ claims that this process is fine and dandy; Segal knows very well that she would not be advocating for “this process to stop” if her party were in control. Most Democrats are doing this solely because they are unhappy with what bills are receiving immediate effect.
While the Democrats’ complaints have obtained a ruling that is a victory for law and order, their reasons are anything but pure; on the flip side, the Republicans’ defense is pure partisan rhetoric.
Both sides need to stop the partisan squabbling, come together and play by the rules if they truly want to get Michigan back on the right track.
Nathan Inks is the president of College Republicans. The column does not reflect views of the organization.
