Early this afternoon, over our objection, the Michigan Senate took final action on HB 5120 and 5121 and swiftly voted along party lines (20-18) to advance the legislation from the Senate Chamber. These bills will be before the Governor shortly, and her signature is expected.

We want to thank our members for the swift action of contacting their Senator in opposition to HB 5120 and the last-minute changes adopted by the Senate Energy and Environment Committee that eroded significant improvements achieved in the passage of the House. Unfortunately, our request to restore language that was altered in committee went unmet, and the bills did not provide any meaningful local control over the siting of energy facilities in cities and villages.

We are disappointed that the final version of this legislation failed to recognize and address our specific concerns. For our communities to balance and meet all our residents’ needs, local control must be consistently recognized as an essential and critical part of the process. We are committed to our continued advocacy for these principles.

We will cover this issue and more on Live with the League this coming Monday. Please register here to join us.

Herasanna Richards is a legislative associate handling energy, environment, public safety, and technology for the League. She can be reached at [email protected] or 517-908-0309.