(CBS DETROIT) – Once bills are passed by both houses of the Michigan Legislature, it is the clerk’s duty to submit them to the governor for signature.
In Michigan’s nearly 200-year history as a state, that process has gone smoothly so far.
The governor’s office says former House Speaker Joe Tate filed nine bills to be sent to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but they never reached her desk.
“Who would think they would just wait until they’re gone and the bills are still there and haven’t been presented? I don’t know if that’s ever happened,” said current House Speaker Matt Hall.
According to Steven Liedel, who served as legal counsel to former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, the spirit of the Michigan Constitution states that proposed bills should be given to the governor. But a brand new legislative session has already begun and the balance of power has shifted.
“The new legislature has nothing to do with what was done by the previous legislature, and the last legislature cannot legislate or do things that bind the next legislature. So that’s the added complication here,” Liedel said.
Liedel says without a resolution, these bills, which have already been approved by lawmakers, would likely die.
Hall, who has been elected speaker of the House of Representatives, says he plans to consult with additional legal experts before taking action on the bills.
“We’re going to look very carefully, you know. We need lawyers for subpoenas and it will be a lot of legal work,” he said.
Democratic representatives like Kelly Breen have expressed frustration with the situation.
“It breaks my heart. Right now they’re looking for reasons not to do something, when they should be looking for reasons to do something,” she said.
She says she feels like this has quickly become a partisan issue when it didn’t need to be.
“It would be an absolute tragedy if this went on for much longer,” she said. “What they are doing is just hurting the people they claim to represent.”
CBS News Detroit reached out to the governor’s office for additional comment, but they declined an interview Friday.
