CONTENT

The bill would amend Public Act 44 of 1899, which provides for the publication and distribution of laws and State documents, to reduce the number of copies of the Michigan Compiled Laws (MCL), the Michigan Manual, and the Public and Local Acts currently required to be distributed; and provide that the “publication” of these documents would mean the production and dissemination of the information in print, microfilm, microfiche, or electronic form.

The bill specifies that a sufficient number of publications of the MCL would have to be provided to the Department of Management and Budget (DMB) for distribution as follows: one to each member of the Legislature, and 40 to the Secretary of the Senate and 114 to the Clerk of the House for use as desk copies by the members. Currently, in addition to distributing the MCL to those offices, the DMB must distribute sets of the MCL to the Library of Congress, Governor, and Lieutenant Governor. The bill would eliminate this provision. The bill also would eliminate provisions requiring that additional sets of the MCL, upon written request to the Legislative Service Bureau (LSB), be distributed by the DMB to various persons and offices as specified in the Act.

The bill would eliminate a requirement that the DMB deliver a copy or copies of the Michigan Manual to offices and persons listed in the Act. Instead, the DMB would have to deliver one copy of the Michigan Manual to each member of the Legislature. The DMB could sell the publication, unless directed otherwise by the LSB, at a price determined by the LSB but not to exceed the cost of preparation and distribution.

Currently, upon written request to the LSB, the DMB must distribute, without charge, one volume of the Public and Local Acts of each legislative session to: libraries of all State officers, departments, boards, commissions, and institutions; Senators and Representatives of Michigan in Congress; the Library of Congress; the U.S. Supreme Court and Federal judges and court clerks in the State; justices, clerks, and the reporter of the State Supreme Court; judges of the Court of Appeals, circuit, recorder’s, district, and municipal courts; and all public libraries and all county law libraries. The bill would eliminate these provisions, as well as a requirement that 140 copies be deposited in the State Library. Instead, the DMB, unless otherwise directed by the LSB, would have to distribute 42 copies to the Senate and 120 to the House, to be used as desk copies.

MCL 24.1 et al. Legislative Analyst: G. Towne

FISCAL IMPACT

There would be costs savings as a result of the reduction of the free distribution of the publications in the bill. The cost of production, storage, postage, and distribution would be lowered because the number of copies published would be reduced. The actual cost savings cannot be estimated at this time.

Date Completed: 5-18-95 Fiscal Analyst: L. Nacionales-Tafoya

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This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.