Michigan Legislature Passes Only Seven Bills in First Quarter of 2026 as Campaign Season Looms

Historically Slow Start to 2026 Legislative Session

Michigan lawmakers have finalized just seven bills into law in the first three months of 2026, marking the slowest legislative pace in an even-numbered year this century. The glacial start has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle as the state approaches campaign season.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks and Republican House Speaker Matt Hall have not found common ground despite sharing some policy goals. The political division has stalled progress on several initiatives that lawmakers say matter to Michiganders.

What Has Been Signed Into Law

The seven bills signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer include:

• Two bills banning smartphones from public school classrooms
• Two bills streamlining death certificate processes and requiring certificates be filed within 48 hours of death
• A bill renewing Michigan participation in an interstate medical compact that prevents 8,000 doctors licenses from expiring
• A measure allowing Harsens Island in St. Clair County to utilize tax incremental financing for downtown development
• A bill designating the wood duck as Michigan's first official state duck

More than 2,600 bills have been introduced since the current two-year term began on January 1, 2025. Whitmer signed 76 of those bills into law in 2025, the lowest legislative year since 1842 according to the Michigan Information and Research Service Inc.

What Has Not Been Signed

Several initiatives face uncertain futures in the politically polarized Capitol:

• A medical debt relief plan approved by the Democratic-led Senate
• Funding for a new runway and infrastructure upgrades at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base approved by the Republican-led House
• A potential business incentive deal teased by Whitmer and House Speaker Matt Hall last year

House Speaker Matt Hall has not yet introduced a property tax reform proposal, though he has indicated it will be complicated. Property tax reform has been high on the to-do list for lawmakers including Hall.

Budget Deadline Concerns

The budget process proved contentious last year, the first since Republicans won back the state House to end a short-lived Democratic trifecta. Lawmakers blew past a July 1 budget deadline written into state law and then missed an October 1 deadline mandated by the state Constitution. They passed a stopgap spending measure to avoid the first state government shutdown in 16 years.

Hall has defended the minimal lawmaking in Lansing, arguing quality matters more than quantity.

Campaign Trail Awaits

With lawmakers expected to leave Lansing this summer to hit the campaign trail ahead of fall elections, experts predict the slow pace could continue.

"We may, in fact, really not see much movement other than a budget all this year, unless we see a deal on property taxes," said John Sellek, founder and CEO of Harbor Strategic, a Lansing-based communications firm.

Senate Democrats Push Forward

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks pointed to laws Democrats passed in 2023 when they were still in charge, including elimination of the so-called retirement tax and expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit for lower-income residents.

But there is certainly more we can get done this year, Brinks said. Her caucus priorities include lowering child care costs and prescription drug prices.

"We certainly hope to have willing partners in the House on all those things," Brinks said in a statement.

Hall's Perspective

House Speaker Matt Hall claimed credit for having personally negotiated deals to ban cellphones in classrooms and for renewing Michigan's participation in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact which stopped an estimated 8,000 medical licenses from lapsing in late 2025.

Hall has also personally blocked a top priority for Senate Democrats, who last year advanced a government transparency proposal to expand Michigan's Freedom of Information Act by subjecting the governor and lawmakers to public records requests.

2026 Legislative Performance

As of 2026, five of the seven bills signed into law this year originated in the Republican-led House, where Hall has at times vocally opposed passing legislation from Senate Democrats.

The second year of two-year terms are typically more productive than the first because lawmakers have learned to work together and already introduced many bills. But so far, 2026 is the slowest start to the second year of a term since at least 1998, which is as far back as legislative records are immediately available.

Looking Ahead

Both chambers will be back in the Capitol on Tuesday after their legislative spring break this week. The budget remains a constitutional requirement that lawmakers must pass by October 1 to avoid a government shutdown.

With campaign season approaching and political tensions high, observers wonder whether the Legislature will be able to pass anything else before lawmakers head home for their election campaigns.

Sources:

• https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/3-months-7-bills-michigan-lawmakers-moving-slow-as-campaign-season-looms/
• https://www.michigan.gov/
• https://senate.michigan.gov/