LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Michigan’s 103rd legislature had gaveled in for the first time Wednesday morning. The lawmakers are starting the new year swearing in the newly elected House of Representatives with a republican majority, outnumbering Democrats 58 to 52.
Michigan Supreme Court Justice Kyra Harris Bolden swore in all 110 members, new rules for session in the House were approved, messages to notify the governor and the Senate of the changes were sent, and the lawmakers officially approved majority party leadership.
The new speaker of the house is Representative Matt Hall (R – Richland Township) in southwest Michigan, he was first elected into office in 2018, and will now serve as the presiding officer in the House.
“This was a pretty broken party when we started, not a lot of people thought we could win. So we had to go and work really hard to do it.” Hall said. “I just want to tell everyone here that was part of that. We did it and you were all part of it, this is for you. We did it and I hope you share in this today because this is a long time coming, bringing balance back to state government.”
Brian Posthumous was elected as the majority floor leader, Rachel Smit will serve as speaker pro tempore, and former assistant clerk Scott Starr was elected House clerk.
On the democrats’ side, Ranjeev Puri is now the minority leader while John Fitzgerald is the minority floor leader.
“There’s a lot of work that we didn’t get done in its entirety last term that we are anxious to hopefully get a chance to work on, but we understand the dynamics have shifted,” Puri said. “It’s the first day, you know, we obviously know that these are some of the topics that we’re going to be addressing upfront. These are topics that are nuanced and we look forward to canvassing our caucus to see where everyone’s at.”
The lawmakers have already introduced the first bills to be addressed Thursday. The legislation includes minimum wage legislation that the new Republican leaders said is their first priority. They hope to stop the changes coming to tipped wages before they take effect in February.
