It’s already been a tumultuous lame duck session in Michigan with Republicans working overtime to push through bills to change campaign finance laws, minimum wage initiatives, and even the power of the Secretary of the State.
But is this lame duck all that different than previous lame ducks?
According to state political historians, the Lame Duck session was always possible in the legislature but the first one didn’t take place until 1900 - over sixty years after Michigan became a state.
Bill Ballenger is a former Republican lawmaker and current political commentator. He said during that first Lame Duck session no legislation was passed.
“Then you had to wait until 1932 to find another Lame Duck session of the legislature. Then you had three in a row: 32, 34, 36.”
Ballenger said Lame Duck sessions typically occur during transitions in power.
“So you can see why perhaps at that time legislators were thinking ‘you know before this new governor or legislature comes in maybe there are some things we can get done.'”
He said not much passed during those early sessions.
Over the years there have been increasingly more Lame Duck sessions - with each one geared towards passing more legislation.
“More bills voted on more bills passed more bills signed into law. That’s persisted up to the present day.”
But, Ballenger said, there’s no question things have become more heated in the last decade.
“I would say this year’s lame duck session looks like it could be the most momentous ever with the possible exception of 2012 six years ago.”
David Rutledge is a former Democratic representative. He said he remembers the voters rejecting an emergency manager law that had gone to the ballot in 2012.
“To my surprise, the legislature convened in lame duck made some tweaks to the proposal that the voters had rejected, and passed it anyway.”
Rutledge said it just doesn’t make sense to allow lawmakers who have already been voted out to make laws. He says not long after the 2012 lame duck a bill was introduced that would have curbed the practice.
“It died before it even got to the floor. It didn’t make it.”
Rutledge said the current lame duck seems like an abuse of power - and if lame ducks continue this way, he expects to see changes.
“It’s a practice that I predict you’ll see maybe even a voter initiated petition to end lame duck sessions in Michigan.”
Bill Ballenger, however, isn’t so sure.
“Whether Lame Ducks are going to be curtailed I think is very doubtful. I think this is going to continue on into the future.”
Both Ballenger and Rutledge both agree, however, that this year’s lame duck is unique.