LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A state Court of Claims ruling delivered a partial victory for both Senate Democrats and House Republicans on Thursday in a lawsuit stemming from nine bills sitting in limbo since the last legislative session.

Judge Sima Patel ruled the Michigan House has a legal obligation to advance nine bills that passed during the Democratic lame duck session in 2024 to the governor’s desk. However, the judge’s ruling does not require the GOP-controlled House to present the bills. The ruling noted it is not the court’s place to interpret or enforce internal rules governing the legislature.

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Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) sued the Michigan House earlier this month after Republican House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) halted the presentation of those nine bills in order to conduct a legal review of his options. As previously reported, Democrats failed to prepare the proper “presentation” of the bills for the governor’s signature during the waning days of their majority. That left the newly elected GOP leadership in the House to determine how and when to present the bills to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Speaker Hall issued a statement. “I’ve been saying since the beginning that the Senate could not sue a Speaker of the House because of a political disagreement and that the Court could not force the House to present bills from a previous session,” Hall said. [The decision to sue] was clearly politically motivated, completely unprecedented, and – as the Court agrees – illegal. That was an embarrassing mistake by the Senate.”

The Michigan House and Senate will be back in session next week.