HOUSE BILL NO. 6254

December 05, 2024, Introduced by Reps. Carra, DeSana, Fox, Maddock, Markkanen, Schriver and Friske and referred to the Committee on Government Operations.

A bill to amend 1984 PA 431, entitled

"The management and budget act,"

(MCL 18.1101 to 18.1594) by adding sections 364, 364a, and 364b.

the people of the state of michigan enact:

Sec. 364. As used in this section and sections 364a and 364b:

(a) "Appropriation bill" means any bill to make, supplement, or adjust appropriations, whether in introduced or amended form.

(b) "Appropriation shell bill" means an appropriation bill that contains nominal appropriations and is introduced or offered for the purpose of later being amended to include the actual legislative proposals for appropriations.

(c) "Legislator" or "member" means a person duly elected and serving in the Michigan house of representatives or the Michigan senate.

(d) "Record roll call vote" means a vote in which each member's "aye" or "nay", or "yes" or "no", is recorded.

Sec. 364a. (1) A legislator shall not introduce or offer an appropriation shell bill.

(2) A committee or subcommittee of a house of the legislature shall not consider or report an appropriation shell bill.

(3) A house of the legislature shall not consider or pass an appropriation shell bill.

Sec. 364b. (1) A conference committee shall not consider an appropriation bill or adopt a conference report for an appropriation bill, unless that appropriation bill has been considered by both the senate and house of representatives standing committees on appropriation.

(2) A conference committee on an appropriation bill shall limit its discussions and actions solely to matters of disagreement between the 2 houses of the legislature. A conference committee on an appropriation bill may not do any of the following:

(a) Change, alter, or amend text that is not in disagreement.

(b) Omit text that is not in disagreement.

(c) Add text on a matter that is not in disagreement.

(d) Add text on a matter that is not included in either the house of representatives version or the senate version of the bill or resolution.

(3) In addition to the restrictions under subsection (2), all of the following restrictions apply to a conference committee on an appropriation bill:

(a) If an item of appropriation appears in both the house of representatives version and the senate version of the appropriation bill in identical amounts, a change may not be made to the item or amount.

(b) If an item of appropriation appears in both the house of representatives version and the senate version of the appropriation bill in different amounts, a change may not be made to the item, but the amount may be changed at the discretion of the conference committee subject to both of the following requirements:

(i) The amount may not exceed the higher amount between the 2 versions.

(ii) The amount may not be less than the lower amount between the 2 versions.

(c) If an item appears in the appropriation bill of one house, but not the other, the item may be included or omitted at the discretion of the conference committee. However, if the item is included, the amount of the item may not exceed the amount appropriated for that item in the appropriation bill in which the item appears.

(d) If an item of appropriation is not included in either the house of representatives version or the senate version of the appropriation bill, the item may not be included in the conference committee report.

(4) Each change made to an item or matter in an appropriation bill by a conference committee that does not adopt in full either the house of representatives version or the senate version of that item or matter must meet both of the following requirements:

(a) Must identify a legislator as the sponsor of that change.

(b) The change must be approved by a record roll call vote.

(5) A conference report for an appropriation bill must include an analysis showing the differences between the conference report and the house of representatives and senate versions of the appropriation bill. The analysis must include all of the following:

(a) In dollar amounts, the differences between the items in the conference report and the items in the house of representatives and senate versions of the appropriation bill.

(b) A description of all matters for which text was changed, altered, amended, added, or omitted by the conference report.

(c) For each change described in subsection (4), the name of the legislature that is the sponsor of that change.

(d) To the extent practical, an indication of any instance where the conference committee in its conference report appears to have exceeded the limitations imposed on its jurisdiction by subsections (1) to (4).

(6) A house of the legislature may not consider or pass a conference report until the analysis under subsection (5) has been prepared and distributed to each member of that house.