Michigan Senate

Michigan State Senate
Michigan State Legislature
Type
Type	Upper house of the Michigan Legislature
Term limits	2 terms (8 years)
History
Founded	January 26, 1837
Preceded by	Michigan Territorial Council
New session started	January 2021
Leadership
President	Garlin Gilchrist (D) since January 1, 2019
President Pro Tempore	Aric Nesbitt (R) since January 1, 2019
Majority Leader	Mike Shirkey (R) since January 1, 2019
Minority Leader	Jim Ananich (D) since January 1, 2015
Structure
Seats	38 voting members
Political groups	Majority   Republican (20) Minority   Democratic (16) Vacant   Vacant (2)
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article IV, Michigan Constitution
Salary	$71,685 salary/year + $10,800 per diem/year
Elections
Last election	November 6, 2018 (38 seats)
Next election	November 8, 2022 (38 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative control
Motto
In God We Trust
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber Michigan State Capitol Lansing, Michigan
Website
Michigan State Senate

The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, adopted in 1963.^[1] The primary purpose of the Legislature is to enact new laws and amend or repeal existing laws.

The Michigan Senate is composed of 38 members, each elected from a single-member district with a population of between approximately 212,400 to 263,500 residents.^[2] Legislative districts are drawn on the basis of population figures, provided by the federal decennial census. Senators' terms begin immediately upon their election. As of 2018, Republicans hold the majority in the State Senate with twenty-two seats; Democrats hold the minority with sixteen seats. The Senate chamber is located in the State Capitol building.^[2]

Titles[]

Members of the Michigan Senate are called senators. Because this shadows the terminology used to describe members of the United States Senate, constituents and the news media, using The Associated Press Stylebook, often refer to members of the Michigan Senate as state senators when necessary to avoid confusion with their federal counterparts.

Terms[]

Senators are elected on a partisan basis for four-year terms, concurrent with the election of the Governor of Michigan. Terms for senators begin on January 1 at noon, following the November general election and end on January 1 when their replacements are sworn in.^[2]

Senate elections are always held two years after the election for President of the United States, with the next election scheduled for November 8, 2022.

Term limits[]

On November 3, 1992, almost 59 percent of Michigan voters backed Proposal B, the Michigan Term Limits Amendment, which amended the state constitution, to enact term limits on federal and state officials. In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not enact congressional term limits, but ruled that the state-level term limits remain. Under the amendment, a person could be elected to the state senate two times. A provision governing partial terms was also included. These provisions became Article IV, section 54 and Article V, section 30 of the Michigan Constitution.^[3]

Qualifications[]

Each senator must be a citizen of the United States, at least 21 years of age, and an elector of the district he represents. Under state law, moving out of the district shall be deemed a vacation of the office. No person who has been convicted of subversion or who has within the preceding 20 years been convicted of a felony involving a breach of public trust shall be eligible for either house of the legislature.

Legislative session[]

For reckoning periods of time during which the legislature operates, each two-year period coinciding with the election of new members of the House of Representatives is numbered consecutively as a legislature, dating to the first legislature following Michigan's admission as a state. The current two-year term of the legislature (January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2022) is the 101st Legislature.

Each year during which the legislature meets constitutes a new legislative session. According to Article IV Section 13 of the State Constitution, a new session of the legislature begins when the members of each house convene, on the second Wednesday of January every year at noon. A regular session of the legislature typically lasts throughout the entire year with several periods of recess and adjourns sine die in late December.

The Michigan legislature is one of ten full-time state legislative bodies in the United States.^[4] Members receive a base salary of $71,685 per year, which makes them the fourth-highest paid legislators in the country, after California, Pennsylvania and New York. While legislators in many states receive per diems that make up for lower salaries, Michigan legislators receive $10,800 per year for session and interim expenses.^[5] Salaries and expense allowances are determined by the State Officers Compensation Commission.

Any legislation pending in either house at the end of a session that is not the end of a legislative term of office continues and carries over to the next Legislative Session.

Powers and process[]

The Michigan legislature is authorized by the Michigan Constitution to create and amend the laws of the U.S. state of Michigan, subject to the governor's power to veto legislation. To do so, legislators propose legislation in the forms of bills drafted by a nonpartisan, professional staff. Successful legislation must undergo committee review, three readings on the floor of each house, with appropriate voting majorities, as required, and either be signed into law by the governor or enacted through a veto override approved by two-thirds of the membership of each legislative house.^[6]

Composition[]

Leadership[]

The Michigan Senate is headed by the Lieutenant Governor of Michigan, who serves as President of the Senate but may cast a vote only in the instance of a tie.^[9] The presiding officers of the senate, apart from the president, are elected by the body at its first session and serve until their term of office is up.^[10] Majority and minority party officers are elected at the same time by their respective caucuses.^[10]

The senate majority leader controls the assignment of committees and leadership positions, along with control of the agenda in the chamber.

• President: Garlin Gilchrist (D)^[11]
• President Pro Tempore: Aric Nesbitt (R)
• Majority Leader: Mike Shirkey (R)
• Assistant President Pro Tempore: Lana Theis (R)
• Associate President Pro Tempore of the Michigan Senate: Marshall Bullock (D)
• Assistant Majority Leader: Wayne Schmidt (R)
• Majority Floor Leader: Peter MacGregor (R)
• Assistant Majority Floor Leader: Dan Lauwers (R)
• Majority Caucus Chairperson: Curt VanderWall (R)
• Assistant Majority Caucus Chairperson: Jim Runestad (R)
• Majority Whip: Peter Lucido (R)
• Assistant Majority Whip: John Bizon (R)
• Minority Leader of the Michigan Senate: Jim Ananich (D)
• Assistant Minority Leader: Jeremy Moss (D)
• Minority Floor Leader: Stephanie Chang (D)
• Assistant Minority Floor Leader: Mallory McMorrow (D)
• Minority Caucus Chair: Erika Geiss (D)
• Assistant Minority Caucus Chair: Paul Wojno (D)
• Minority Whip: Winnie Brinks (D)
• Assistant Minority Whip: Rosemary Bayer (D)

Members, 2019–2021[]

Senate Districts and Party Affiliation as of 2019

  Republican Party

  Democratic Party

Past composition of the Senate[]

See also[]

• Government of Michigan
• Michigan Legislature
• Michigan State Capitol
• Michigan House of Representatives
• Michigan Republican Party
• Michigan Democratic Party
• Lieutenant Governor of Michigan
• List of majority leaders of the Michigan Senate
• Michigan Senate elections:
  • 2002
  • 2006
  • 2010
  • 2014
  • 2018

References[]

External links[]

• Michigan Senate
• Republican Party Caucus, Michigan Senate
• Democratic Party Caucus, Michigan Senate