February 5, 2024
To: Members of MAPCR, MECRA, and MAFCR:
We are halfway to our goal of getting HB 5046 to the Governor’s desk. It is now time to take our fight to the Senate. The next step is to get a committee hearing in front of the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety Committee. This decision lies with the Committee Chair, Stephanie Chang. We encourage all members to reach out to her office and let her know we need a hearing as soon as possible. We have waited 38 years and now is our time.
Once we are able to have an initial committee hearing with testimony, there will be a second committee hearing where they will vote on the bill. If passed, HB 5046 will be eligible for a vote on the Senate Floor. It is the same procedure that we have been through on the House side.
Things you can do:
Write to Committee Chair, Stephanie Chang, and encourage her to put HB 5046 on the agenda. Her email address is SenSChang@senate.michigan.gov.
Sign up for Senate Judiciary Committee agenda notifications to get direct notification when HB 5046 may be up for a hearing. Michigan Legislature - Listserver Signup. Judiciary Committee hearings typically take place on Thursdays at noon. However, the Chair can set hearing times at her pleasure. We usually do not get much notice before a hearing takes place, so this is an additional tool to make sure you’re in the loop. Of course, we will do our best to notify everyone as soon as we get any notification of an upcoming hearing.
Write to members of the Judiciary Committee and encourage them to vote yes when HB 5046 comes before them:
Stephanie Chang, Chair SenSChang@senate.michigan.gov
Sue Shink, Majority Vice Chair SenSShink@senate.michigan.gov
Paul Wojno SenPWojno@senate.michigan.gov
Jeff Irwin SenJIrwin@senate.michigan.gov
Sylvia Santana SenSSantana@senate.michigan.gov
Jim Runestad, Minority Vice Chair SenJRunestad@senate.michigan.gov
Ruth Johnson SenRJohnson@senate.michigan.gov
Write to your Senator. If you don’t already know who that is, you can look them up here: Home Page Find Your Senator - Michigan Senate. You can use the same letter you did when writing to Committee Members.
Spread the word to other court reporters and recorders, judges, attorneys, professional contacts, family, friends, community groups, or anyone else you’ve ever complained to over the past 38 years about not getting a raise.
An email can be as simple as writing “Please Support HB 5046” in the subject line and “Dear Sen. _______: My name is ______, a resident of your district. I am writing to ask that you vote “Yes” on HB 5046, which would raise the fees for Michigan court reporters and recorders for the first time in 38 years.”
If you have any questions feel free to reach out to the legislative leads for each organization:
Jacqueline Reed (MECRA) Kelli Werner (MAPCR) Kara Van Dam (MAFCR)
If you are interested in keeping in touch with the Legislative Dream Team monthly meetings and updates, please provide your contact information at the following quick link:
Click Here: Join our Legislative Dream Team
We are so encouraged by the collaborative efforts on that part of MAPCR, MECRA, and MAFCR to move our common interests forward. It is only together that we can make this happen.
Regards,
Legislative Dream Team