Rules for litigating Headlee Amendment cases would change under proposals that the Michigan Supreme Court has on the agenda for a May 11 public hearing.
The Legislative Commission on Statutory Mandates recommended the changes in a December 2009 report.
If adopted, the proposal (ADM File No. 2010-05) would eliminate fact-specific pleading requirements and would establish priority treatment for Headlee actions in the Court of Appeals.
The proposed changes would also codify the current practice of appointing a special master to hear the case. The changes would make it easier for would-be Headlee litigants to pursue their claims, the commission maintains.
But Attorney General Bill Schuette and the Michigan Court of Appeals have expressed concerns, saying that a Headlee plaintiff should be required to plead specific facts — for example, how a government action violated Headlee — so that the parties and court understand the basis for the Headlee claim.
Adopted by voters in 1978, the Headlee Amendment (Const 1963, art 9, §§ 24-34) sets an overall limit on total state spending for each fiscal year.
The amendment requires the state to reimburse local governments for any new state-mandated programs; it also prohibits the state from reducing the proportion of total state spending on local governments below the proportion in effect in FY 1979.
Among other provisions, Headlee requires that voters approve local government tax increases that were not authorized by law or charter before November 1978.
The public hearing, which begins at 9:30 a.m., will take place in the Supreme Court courtroom on the sixth floor of the Michigan Hall of Justice in Lansing.
Anyone wishing to address the court on agenda items should contact the Clerk of the Court in writing at PO Box 30052, Lansing, MI 48909 or by e-mail at MSC_clerk@courts.mi.gov, no later than May 9 to reserve a place on the agenda.
Speakers will have three minutes each to present their views and may be questioned by the justices.
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