State Rep. Greg Alexander, of Carsonville, today said House Democrat attempts to run away from people’s priorities given their temporary loss of majority amounts to poor leadership.

Today, House Democrats officially declared Sine Die – the end of the legislative year – before December for the first time in 55 years. The move comes after recent mayoral elections resulted in the House having a 54-54 split between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats, who had been in majority, are also using the maneuver to move up the effective date of several new laws they rushed through the Legislature.

Alexander said the time away will ultimately hurt people who are counting on state government and their elected leaders to deliver dedicated funding to fix local roads, improved public safety, and government transparency measures to elevate Michigan’s dismal record.

“House Republicans understand that finding common ground can be challenging in today’s climate, but we’re willing to work hard to find it for people we represent. Democrats simply took their ball and went home once they could no longer ram through their agenda,” Alexander said. “We have hundreds of bills that have been waiting idly for hearings in committees and there are numerous issues impacting workers and families that need to be addressed. Is moving the presidential primary up a week so important that we’ll discard weeks of work on behalf of the people?

“People who expect us to get things done for them can’t wait until next spring for these two seats to be filled. It’s important to work together and develop lasting, impactful reforms that benefit everyone in Michigan. But that requires the Legislature to be meeting.”

Alexander specifically pointed to recently passed financial disclosure bills that were rushed through in the middle of the night last week due to the imminent end-of-year declaration. The bills, which were in response to voters overwhelmingly approving needed disclosure requirements in Proposal 1 of 2022, provide weak enforcement that won’t stop people from masking assets, allow fines for violations to be paid with a campaign account and give the Legislature no ability to investigate conflicts of interest.

Alexander has supported multiple common-sense proposals in response to Democrat actions, including a resolution calling for Dec. 28 to be the end of the legislative year to allow for additional proposals to be taken up and others that would curtail legislator pay if the Legislature was not meeting over the next several weeks.

“This will be historic inaction for our chamber,” Alexander said. “We have a unique opportunity together to make Michigan an even better place to live, work and raise a family. Instead, the Legislature is expecting taxpayers to fund extended vacations for lawmakers. That’s not right.”