State House Speaker Matt Hall says he would like to see an amendment to the Michigan Constitution that requires supermajority votes for the Legislature to adopt bills in “lame duck” sessions.
The House GOP leader said Tuesday that those sessions, in which new lawmakers have been elected but not yet taken office, should be used for routine issues and not to tackle controversial questions. But Hall (R-Richland Township) said too often controversial questions are delayed until after elections, when lawmakers are most insulated from the judgment of voters.
“And then after the election they try to move the bulk of legislation when they’re furthest away from the voters having a say,” he said during his weekly press conference.
Hall said a "lame duck" supermajority rule would require legislation that moves after elections to have a strong bipartisan consensus. “That’s why, by making it a two-thirds vote after the election, then largely it’ll be consensus issues.”
Amending the state constitution would itself require supermajority votes in the House and the Senate to put a question on the ballot for voters to approve or reject. There is a resolution to do that pending on the House floor.
It's been tried before: then-House Speaker Jason Wentworth sponsored a joint resolution in 2021 to put the question before voters. It passed the state House but didn't get a vote in the Senate.
