by Scott McClallen
The Michigan Senate approved four bills on Thursday covering two topics.
The Senate approved Senate Bill 169 along party lines, which aims to require employers to share employees’ names, home addresses, cellphone numbers, work address locations, and personal email addresses with labor representatives every 90 days.
“The intent here is to make sure that individuals who are legally required to represent employees have the information on who they are actually required to represent and the ability to contact them and fulfill their requirements of representation,” bill sponsor Sen. John Cherry, D-Flint, said in previous testimony.
Sen. Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, offered a failed amendment that sought to require union bargaining representatives to provide their home address, salary, phone number, and email address to union employees, giving two-way communication.
“After all, the need for communication might work both ways,” Albert said in a floor speech. “On top of all that, if it’s really OK for union reps to be told how much each individual worker is paid, it should be OK for the workers to be informed on how much their union officials are paid as well.”
Republicans say the bill was a handout to boost union membership and a threat to personal privacy after six failed amendments.
Three Senate bills were approved that aim to require licensure for a sport fishing or commercial hunting guide if the person assisted another person to fish or game for a fee or other economic benefit.
The bills are tie-barred and are sponsored by Cherry, Sen. Kevin Daly, R-Lum, and Sen. Sean McCann, D-Kalamazoo. If passed by both chambers and signed into law, the legislation would:
- Prohibit a person from acting as a sport fishing or commercial hunting guide on commercial forestland.
- Authorize the Department of Natural Resources to revoke a guide license for specified reasons.
- Prescribe a civil fine for acting as a guide without a license.
- Require the Department of Natural Resources to post certain license information on its website.
- Prescribe a civil fine for providing false information to the Department of Natural Resources.
The bills would require guides to report monthly the species the guide was targeting for hunting or fishing; the number of clients the guide had for each fishing or hunting trip and the number of hours hunted or fished during each trip; the number of fish caught and released; the number of fish harvested by the guide’s clients; the bodies of water where the individual acted as guide; and the biological characteristics of the fish caught and released or harvested; and the month.
All commercial guides must possess a valid base hunting ($11) or fishing license ($26), be certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid, and have a state identification card or driver’s license.
The Michigan United Conservation Clubs says regulations aim to stop those convicted of wildlife violations from guiding other hunters or fishers.
The bills move to the House.
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Scott McClallen is a staff writer covering Michigan and Minnesota for The Center Square. A graduate of Hillsdale College, his work has appeared on Forbes.com and FEE.org. Previously, he worked as a financial analyst at Pepsi.
Photo “Hunting” by Rhett Noonan.
