A2: State Legislature

In a segment on her MSNBC show, Rachel Maddow highlights the Michigan legislature’s “immediate effect” controversy, including the recent lawsuit filed by state House Democrats against the GOP majority. Ann Arbor Democrat Jeff Irwin is a plaintiff in that lawsuit, which contests the way in which Republicans have used voice votes to declare the constitutionally-mandated two-thirds majority needed for laws to take immediate effect. Maddow calls the practice “the most radical thing Republicans have done anywhere in the country.” [Source] For additional background on the issue, see Chronicle coverage of an April 2 special meeting of the University of Michigan board of regents: “UM Regents Split on State House Lawsuit.”