On,
without a doubt, one of those “I remember when…” days, the GOP-controlled House
of Representatives and Senate both passed “Right to Work” legislation, providing
the ability for members of private and public unions to effectively opt-out.
Weeks
of speculation following the decisive defeat of Proposal 2 (a proposal to place
union organization rights in the Michigan Constitution) on the November ballot
came to a head early Thursday when Governor Rick Snyder, Senate Majority Leader
Randy Richardville (R-Monroe) and Speaker of the House Jase Bolger (R-Marshall)
announced their intentions to move forward on the reform, seen as potentially
devastating to organized labor.
The
House started the action with House
Bill 4054, creating the Right to Work structure for private workers. The
measure passed 58-52 with Republican Representatives Anthony Forlini (Harrison
Township), Ken Goike (Ray Township), Ken Horn (Frankenmuth), Ed McBroom
(Vulcan), Pat Somerville (New Boston) and Dale Zorn (Ida) joining Democrats in
opposition.
Senate
Bill 116 , identical to HB 4054, was moved by the Senate some hours later.
In the upper chamber, GOP Senators Tom Casperson (Escanaba), Mike Green
(Mayville), Mike Nofs (Battle Creek) and Tory Rocca (Sterling Heights) voted
“no” resulting in the 22-16 tally.
The Senate also
passed an amended version of House
Bill 4003 to create the Right to Work environment for public workers.
The House and
Senate plan to concur in each other’s legislation next Tuesday (December 11th),
ultimately moving the bills to the Governor’s desk.
As expected, the
measures exempt police and fire workers and contain a $1 million appropriation
to the Department of Licensing & Regulatory Affairs (LARA) to implement the
new statute, thereby making the law referendum-proof upon enactment.