Bills approved by Michigan Legislature fail to reach Gov. Whitmer's desk, officials say
(CBS DETROIT) - Once bills pass both chambers in the Michigan Legislature, it is the clerk's duty to present them to the governor for a signature.
In Michigan's nearly 200-year history as a state, that process has gone smoothly until now.
The Governor's Office says former House Speaker Joe Tate enrolled nine bills to be sent to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but they never reached her desk.
"Who would think that they would just wait until they're gone and the bills are still there and they 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 Gov. Jennifer Granholm, the spirit of the Michigan Constitution states that bills that have been enrolled should be given to the governor. But a whole 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 last legislature, and the last legislature cannot enact things or do things that binds the next legislature. So that's the added complication here," said Liedel.
Liedel says that without a resolution, those bills, which have already been approved by lawmakers, would likely die.
Hall, who was elected as House Speaker, 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're going to need lawyers for subpoenas and it's going to be a lot of legal work to do," he said.
Democratic representatives like Kelly Breen have expressed frustration at the situation.
"It breaks my heart. Right now they are looking for reasons to not do something when they should be looking for reasons to do something," she said.
She says she feels this has quickly become a partisan issue when it didn't need to be.
"It would be an absolute tragedy if this went on much longer," she said. "What they're doing is just hurting the people they claim to represent."
CBS News Detroit contacted the Governor's Office for additional comments, but they declined an interview on Friday.
