STATE OF MICHIGAN
Journal of the Senate
100th Legislature
REGULAR SESSION OF 2020
Senate Chamber, Lansing, Wednesday, April 29, 2020.
10:00
a.m.
The
Senate was called to order by the President, Lieutenant Governor Garlin D.
Gilchrist II.
The roll was called by the Secretary of the Senate, who
announced that a quorum was present.
Alexander—present Horn—present Outman—present
Ananich—present Irwin—present Polehanki—present
Barrett—present Johnson—present Runestad—present
Bayer—present LaSata—present Santana—present
Bizon—present Lauwers—present Schmidt—present
Brinks—present Lucido—present Shirkey—present
Bullock—present MacDonald—present Stamas—present
Bumstead—present MacGregor—present Theis—present
Chang—present McBroom—present VanderWall—present
Daley—present McCann—present Victory—present
Geiss—present McMorrow—present Wojno—present
Hertel—present Moss—present Zorn—present
Hollier—present Nesbitt—present
Senator
Paul Wojno of the 9th District offered the following invocation:
Dear Father,
we seek your help with our legislative affairs this morning. We ask for your
hand of blessing on this session day as we work through this global pandemic.
Bless our Governor and Lieutenant Governor and all those who serve as elected
officials. Bless our healthcare providers, first responders, educators, and
everyone who continues to serve others before themselves.
May you
provide comfort to those who are sick, who have lost a loved one, or have faced
persecution during this time because of their race, ethnicity, or orientation.
We ask that you would guide and direct this Senate in productivity, respect for
one another, and agreement in providing safety and security for the citizens of
our state. Amen.
The President, Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist, led the
members of the Senate in recital of the Pledge
of Allegiance.
Motions and Communications
Senator Chang moved that Senator
Santana be temporarily excused from today’s session.
The motion prevailed.
The motion prevailed, a majority of the
members serving voting therefor.
Recess
Senator
MacGregor moved that the Senate recess until 11:30 a.m.
The
motion prevailed, the time being 10:04 a.m.
During the recess, Senator
Santana entered the Senate Chamber.
Recess
Senator
Chang moved that the Senate recess subject to the call of the Chair.
The
motion prevailed, the time being 11:31 a.m.
The
Senate was called to order by the President, Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist.
Recess
Senator
MacGregor moved that the Senate recess until 12:30 p.m.
The
motion prevailed, the time being 11:36 a.m.
Senator
MacGregor moved that the Senate recess until 2:00 p.m.
The
motion prevailed, the time being 12:31 p.m.
Senator
MacGregor moved that the Senate recess until 3:00 p.m.
The
motion prevailed, the time being 2:01 p.m.
Recess
Senator
MacGregor moved that the Senate recess subject to the call of the Chair.
The
motion prevailed, the time being 3:01 p.m.
The
Senate was called to order by the President, Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist.
By unanimous consent the Senate
proceeded to the order of
Introduction and Referral of Bills
A bill to amend 1956 PA 218, entitled “The insurance
code of 1956,” by amending section 3476 (MCL 500.3476), as amended by 2017 PA
223.
The bill was read a first and second time by title and
referred to the Committee on Insurance and Banking.
Senator MacDonald introduced
A bill to amend 1976 PA 390, entitled “Emergency
management act,” by amending section 11 (MCL 30.411), as amended by 2005 PA
321.
The bill was read a first and second time by title and
referred to the Committee on Government Operations.
Statements
The
motion prevailed.
Senator Santana’s statement is as
follows:
I rise to talk today about a
symbol of hatred in the United States. This symbol is commonly referred to as
the Confederate battle flag. I have enrolled a bill today that will permanently
ban this symbol of hatred from display or use on our State Capitol grounds.
Article I, section 2 of the
Michigan Constitution reads, “[n]o person shall be denied the equal protection
of the laws; nor shall any person be denied the enjoyment of his civil or
political rights or be discriminated against in the exercise thereof because of
religion, race, color or national origin. The legislature shall implement this
section by appropriate legislation.”
History of the Confederate battle
flag is often misinterpreted. The rebel flag as it is commonly referred to is
not a true flag of the Confederacy. It was used sparingly during the Civil War
when a treacherous government tried overthrow our democracy—a democracy and a
union that Michigan fought to preserve.
In fact, at the beginning of the
war Michigan was asked to supply no more than one regiment of soldiers, yet
Governor Austin Blair, whose statue stands in front of our Capitol, sent seven instead.
Then when Michigan was invited to the Washington Peace Accords by Virginia, our
predecessors in this chamber passed a refusal resolution stating that “concessions
and compromise are not to be entertained or offered to traitors.”
The display or use of the
Confederate battle flag destroys the history of our great state and destroys
the history of this chamber. The flag serves no purpose to remember our
history. In fact, it minimizes the contributions of 15,000 Michiganders who
gave their lives to preserve the Union and abolish slavery in the United
States. Michigan should continue to be a place of equality and understanding.
We owe it to our predecessors and our constituents to ban the display or use of
the Confederate battle flag at our Capitol. I urge all of you to become
co-sponsors of this bill and show our constituents that there is no place or
room for bigotry or hatred in Michigan.
Senator Geiss’ statement is as follows:
Today I rise to address a very
serious issue, one that I’m sure many wish would disappear, but it cannot.
We cannot make progress or change
by ignoring issues of race or by tolerating examples of hatred—whether overt,
covert, by microaggression, or by accident.
I rise today to urge the Michigan
State Senate to formally censure the gentleman from the 17th Senate District
for his knowing and willing adornment of a Confederate flag pattern on a
facemask to the meeting of this body on Friday, April 24, 2020. Further, it is
being requested that the Michigan State Senate change its rules to prohibit the
adornment, display, or promotion of symbols, attire, logo, or insignia of the
Confederacy and/or white supremacy in a legislative chamber by its members.
Following the acknowledgement by
the gentleman from the 17th District of wearing a facemask patterned after the
Confederate flag—and with the statement of belief that wearing it would raise
some eyebrows—we are deeply concerned that the history used to excuse those
actions does not adequately reflect the subtly-veiled racism that the Confederate
flag represents.
As we’ve already heard from our
good colleague from the 3rd Senate District, the Confederate flag’s history is
that of a banner and emblem for those who fought to maintain a system where
humans were owned by other humans—a system of slavery. In the year’s after the
Civil War and through the Civil Rights era, it was used to intimidate, harass,
and terrorize black people and our communities. That emblematic usage persists
today, despite claims of its use as a symbol of Southern heritage or history.
Now while we acknowledge that the
gentleman from the 17th District issued an apology days after being confronted
on this issue, that apology was hollow and was insufficient to reflect the
consequences and gravity of the actions—actions that were appalling and an
affront to not only the 14 percent of those elected and serving within this
chamber who are of African descent, but also for the 100 perfect of the 14
percent of Michigan’s population who are also of African descent. Immediate
public action must be taken on this matter given that five members of the
chamber, multiple staff members, and our Lieutenant Governor are of African
descent. The actions of the gentleman from the 17th District must have punitive
consequences and rules from this chamber must be updated so that similar
actions never occur again. It’s absurd that we have to put it in writing to not
wear a Confederate flag or similar white supremacist regalia while in this body
doing the work of the people. But apparently we do.
I look forward to a thoughtful
and swift response and resolution to this matter.
Announcements of Printing and
Enrollment
The
Secretary announced that the following House bill was received in the Senate
and filed on Wednesday, April 29:
House
Bill No. 5704
The
Secretary announced that the following bills and resolutions were printed and
filed on Tuesday, April 28, and are available on the Michigan Legislature
website:
Senate
Bill Nos. 891 892 893 894 895 896 897
Senate
Resolution Nos. 111 112
House
Bill Nos. 5741 5742
Senator
MacGregor moved that the Senate adjourn.
The
motion prevailed, the time being 4:14 p.m.
The
President, Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist, declared the Senate adjourned until
Thursday, April 30, 2020, at 10:00 a.m.
MARGARET O’BRIEN
Secretary of the Senate