Quite simply, committees are the focus of our advocacy work in #MILeg.
When a bill is introduced in either chamber, it is assigned to one of 18 House or 17 Senate Standing Committees. Lawmakers will sometimes write a bill so it’s more likely to be referred to one committee instead of another. The bill sponsor can request assignment to a particular committee but the decision lies with the Speaker (House) or Majority Leader (Senate).
Committee leadership consists of the Chair, Majority Vice Chair, and Minority Vice Chair. The number of members varies by committee, but the majority party always has the majority of members. This session, Republicans are the majority in the House having “flipped” that chamber in the 2024 elections, and Democrats remain in the majority in the Senate (there were no senate seats on the 2024 ballot; all will be on the 2026 ballot).
Once a bill has been assigned to a committee, one of three things can happen (in order of frequency):
- Nothing (the bill languishes in committee until the session ends and the bill dies)
- A hearing is scheduled, testimony is taken, the bill can be revised, and a vote usually is taken and the bill sent on to the floor
- Discharge to the floor without hearing (usually at the end of a session)
Michigan House Standing Committees AFA’s bills are most often in Agriculture, Judiciary, and Natural Resources; but sometimes are assigned to Energy, Government Operations and Regulatory Reform.
Michigan Senate Standing Committees AFA’s bills are most often in Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety; and Natural Resources and Agriculture. Sometimes are assigned to Energy and Environment, Government Operations, Local Government, and Regulatory Affairs.
Having a hearing is key to bills moving. Committee chairs have authority to decide which bills get a hearing and how the hearing is conducted. Grassroots advocates (and lobbyists) have opportunities to apply pressure at both stages. Consider that advocates who oppose a bill will lobby the chair to not hold a hearing. For example, last session Michiganders for a Just Farming System, a coalition co-founded by Attorneys for Animals, opposed SB 275 that would have incentivized CAFO-derived manure biogas. With other partners, MFJFS was successful in preventing a hearing on the bill.
A committee chair generally does not schedule a hearing unless there are the votes to pass it. Often there will be amendments after the hearing because differing points of view are presented and issues are uncovered so that a “sub” bill will be voted on at a future committee meeting. Occasionally, however, there will be a hearing but the bill will not be put on the agenda for a vote, and it dies when the session ends. For example, in June 2023, early in the last session, the Senate Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee held a hearing on a bill package to revise several statutes related to gaming and horseracing. AFA opposed because it would support and finance a dying and cruel industry and testified at the hearing. The bills never came to a committee vote and died at the end of session.
Advocates may be able to shape the committee hearing on a bill by working with the bill sponsor who generally is responsible for selecting the witnesses. It’s important to keep within the time contraints and to choose witnesses who have the most compelling testimony and do not duplicate other witnesses. For example, late last session a hearing was scheduled on an important bill to clarify the meaning of “adequate shelter” in the animal crimes law. The hearing had been announced at the last minute. The night before, the sponsor’s legislative director was assembling witnesses to testify the next day. AFA board member, Molly Tamulevich was recruited. She now lives in Australia and had to get up in the middle of the night, her time, to testify — thereby giving new meaning to the term “testifying remotely”!
Just this week, the House committee leaders and members were announced. Starting in February, the important business of the legislature should begin in earnest.