Be it resolved? From ceremonial to political, a look at Michigan lawmakers’ resolutions

By Eric Freedman, Capital News Service

LANSING—From a proposed cigar bar at Detroit Metropolitan Airport to the ill-fated S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, from presidential impeachment to Michigan’s automobile heritage, lawmakers have been opining, congratulating, commemorating, posturing, praising, chiding and deriding—all in the form of resolutions.

Among them, senators condemned “political violence in all forms, regardless of political party or ideology” in a resolution from Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, and memorialized the 50^th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior with a resolution from Sen. John Damoose of Harbor Springs.

Resolutions are not binding laws. Rather, they merely express the sentiments of the Legislature or deal with internal operations of the Senate and House.

So far this year, representatives have introduced more than 200 resolutions and senators more than 80.

Add to that more than 20 joint resolutions, including proposals to amend the Michigan Constitution to eliminate the State Board of Education and to immediately remove from office public employees and officials convicted of felonies.

Many resolutions are commemorative, introduced at the behest of constituents and adopted unanimously.

This year’s calendar dates include Scottish-American Heritage Month, Patriots’ Day, Community College Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Great Outdoors Month, and National Flag Week.

Some noncontroversial resolutions highlight health issues, such as Tardive Dyskinesia Awareness Week, Black Maternal Health Week, Brain Cancer Awareness Day and Autism Awareness Week.

Even health can be controversial, however.

A House resolution now stuck in committee would call on the Wayne County Airport Authority to drop plans for a cigar bar, calling it a health risk. The resolution from Rep. Stephanie Young D- Detroit, highlights the risks of second-hand smoke and says the facility would require an exemption from the state’s smoke-free air law prohibiting indoor smoking.

Partisan political screeds also appear in both the GOP-led House and the Democratic-led Senate.

For example, Democrats led by Rep. Noah Arbit of West Bloomfield sponsored a resolution “to urge the Trump-Vance Administration to cease and desist from their radical policies of state socialism, including the partial nationalization of Intel Corp., and encourage the federal government to refrain from any further nationalization of private corporations, so that free market capitalism may flourish in Michigan.”

It’s stuck in a Republican-dominated committee, as is one from Rep. Dylan Wegera, D-Garden City, urging the US House of Representatives to impeach President Donald Trump for the “high crimes and misdemeanors of repeatedly undermining the Constitution.”

From the other side of the aisle, the House adopted one by Rep. Brian BeGole of Perry commending the president for “his leadership and accomplishments during his first 100 days in office, recognize the positive impact of his actions on Michigan and the nation, and extend to him our gratitude and best wishes for continued success.”

Often resolutions urge other governmental units, such as federal and local agencies, to take a particular action that’s outside the Legislature’s authority.

Among them, House Republicans successfully pushed a resolution from Rep. Josh Schriver of Oxford urging county sheriffs and local police to sign agreements with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement “to enhance immigration enforcement and public safety.”

Another one from Rep. Jason Woolford, R-Howell, would ask the US Armed Forces “to expand the use of medical waivers for recruits with food allergies, including allergies to peanuts.” It’s mired in committee.

And Rep. Gregory Markkanen, R-Hancock, wants the federal government to buy the former Ojibway Correctional Facility in Gogebic County and “turn it into a detention and deportation center for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” The state closed the prison in 2018.