Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Diane Stephens has blocked the state from enforcing the emergency rules on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s ban on flavored vaping products. The House unanimously approved legislation that would require many out-of-state websites that facilitate online sales in Michigan to collect and remit the 6 percent sales tax. Gov. Whitmer has ordered that new limits on the amount of PFAS compound that can be in Michigan drinking water be committed to rules. Final adoption could come by April 2020. By Aug. 1, 2021, every Michigan school and daycare center would need to install lead-free drinking water stations per 100 occupants. Republicans have introduced 47 supplemental budget bills in the House and Senate to bring back $256 million of the $947 million of the line-itemed vetoes that include private college grants, charter school funding increase payments to local governments and county road patrol money restoring spending that Gov. Whitmer eliminated with her vetoes. A change in state policy raising the asset limit for three major public assistance programs this winter will allow more Michigan residents to take advantage of those services. By a vote of 107 to 1, the House passed SB 47, which would exclude placement of solar panels on residential real property from assessments of true cash value in regards to property taxes. The measure goes to the Governor's desk and if approved, local assessors will go back to reassess the value of the properties with solar panels. Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake) and House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) are working with the Voters Not Politicians (VNP) group on term-limit expansion. The conceptual plan, which has not been finalized, would be that lawmakers could serve a combined 20 years in both the House and Senate before they would be term-limited out. Gov. Whitmer says she will pursue administrative rules to expand how many Michigan workers would automatically qualify for overtime pay. For more details on these and other legislative initiatives, please click here for the October 2019 Karoub Report.