How did your legislators vote on the GEO bill?
After a contentious hour-long floor debate and several failed amendments, the Michigan Senate passed the GEO bill.
HB 4467 amends the corrections code to allow prisoners of any security level to be housed at the privately run prison in Baldwin. The law previously allowed for Level IV and below.
MCO testified against the bill during Senate committee hearings, citing various safety and economic concerns, and supported Sen. Steve Bieda’s (D- 9th District) amendment to exclude high level Michigan inmates from being sent to the facility.
Full Senate debate over the Bieda amendment was thorough with members of both parties speaking to the proposal. In the end, the 38 member senate was unable to deliver the 20 required votes to adopt the amendment, falling short by a single senator (19 supported, 18 opposed, 1 excused).
Here’s how senators voted on the amendment:
Watch video of the debate on this amendment (we apologize for the low volume level):
The unamended bill was voted on by the full Senate and passed with 23 yeas, 14 nays and 1 excused. Here’s how senators voted on the unamended bill:
To read individual senators’ comments, view the senate journal. Comments start on page 11 under “protests.”
We think it’s important for members to know how their legislators vote on corrections legislation. Please take the time to find your legislators (you can use this contact form to figure out who they are) and examine the pictures above to see how they voted.
MCO is disappointed with the result. We urge all members to reach out to Gov. Rick Snyder (517)373-3400 and ask him to veto this potentially harmful legislation.