{"id":7642,"date":"2025-12-10T12:51:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedems.com\/irwin\/?p=7642"},"modified":"2025-12-10T12:51:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:51:59","slug":"oversight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/irwin\/2025\/12\/10\/oversight\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Senators Propose\u00a0Bipartisan Legislation\u00a0to\u00a0Provide Balanced Oversight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.3&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.3&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.3&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.3&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><span><i data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">Irwin, McBroom seek to establish bipartisan, bicameral oversight committee within Michigan Legislature<br \/><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">\n<p><span><i data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\"><br \/><\/i><\/span>LANSING,\u00a0Mich. (Dec.\u00a010,\u00a02025) \u2014\u00a0State Sens.<b>\u00a0Jeff Irwin<\/b>\u00a0(D-Ann Arbor) and<b>\u00a0Ed McBroom<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>(R-Waucedah Twp.) have introduced legislation to ensure the Michigan Legislature can exercise its vital oversight responsibilities fairly. The proposed oversight committee would be made up of an equal number of representatives and senators from both parties. The committee would be authorized to subpoena witnesses and to review reports from the auditor general.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOversight is a cornerstone of our democracy, because the people of Michigan need to know that\u00a0government\u00a0is working for them,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Sen.<span>\u00a0<\/span><b>Irwin<\/b>. \u201cBut our current process of legislative oversight is controlled by the majority party in each chamber, leading to inconsistency and perceptions of bias. The work of holding government accountable is too important to leave in partisan hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I chaired the Senate Oversight Committee, I saw how lack of consistency and changes in partisan control undermine the Legislature\u2019s ability to protect people when government fails them,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Sen.<span>\u00a0<\/span><b>McBroom<\/b>. \u201cOur proposal would enable voters to adopt methods that have proven effective in other states and put them to work for the people of Michigan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The legislative package\u00a0comprises\u00a0a joint resolution and a bill.\u00a0Sen.<span>\u00a0<\/span><b>Irwin\u2019s<\/b>\u00a0Senate Joint Resolution\u00a0G\u00a0would put a proposal on the ballot to enable Michigan voters to amend the state constitution, creating a bicameral, bipartisan standing oversight committee in the\u00a0Legislature. The committee would\u00a0comprise\u00a0equal numbers of senators and representatives from both parties, have full powers to subpoena and swear in witnesses, and take reports directly from the auditor general. To\u00a0insulate against\u00a0potential interference by majority legislative leadership, independent staff support would be provided through the Legislative Council.\u00a0Sen.<span>\u00a0<\/span><b>McBroom\u2019s<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Senate Bill 734 would codify the details of implementing the constitutional amendment, prescribing procedures for appointing members, filling vacancies, and removing members.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, the bicameral, bipartisan joint oversight committee would consist of eight members within the Legislature: two appointed by the Speaker of the House, two appointed by the House Minority Leader, two appointed by the Senate Majority Leader, and two appointed by the Senate Minority Leader. To ensure impartiality, no more than four of the eight seats may be held by members of the same party. The committee members would select two or four co-chairpersons, not more than half of whom may represent the same party or legislative chamber. Members could be removed by the person who appointed them or by majority vote in their own chamber.<\/p>\n<p>Sens.<span>\u00a0<\/span><b>McBroom<\/b>\u00a0and<span>\u00a0<\/span><b>Irwin<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>served together on the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee from 2019 to 2022. Sen.<span>\u00a0<\/span><b>McBroom<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>chaired the committee, and Sen.<span>\u00a0<\/span><b>Irwin<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>was the minority vice chair. Under their leadership, the committee held public hearings on\u00a0important issues,\u00a0including election integrity and the performance of the Michigan unemployment insurance system during the height of the\u00a0COVID\u00a0pandemic.\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" style=\"text-align: center;\">###<\/div>\n<p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Irwin, McBroom seek to establish bipartisan, bicameral oversight committee within Michigan Legislature LANSING,\u00a0Mich. (Dec.\u00a010,\u00a02025) \u2014\u00a0State Sens.\u00a0Jeff Irwin\u00a0(D-Ann Arbor) and\u00a0Ed McBroom\u00a0(R-Waucedah Twp.) have introduced legislation to ensure the Michigan Legislature can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7610,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.4 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Michigan Senators Propose\u00a0Bipartisan Legislation\u00a0to\u00a0Provide Balanced Oversight - Senator Jeff Irwin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Michigan Senators Propose\u00a0Bipartisan Legislation\u00a0to\u00a0Provide Balanced Oversight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/irwin\/2025\/12\/10\/oversight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michigan Senators Propose\u00a0Bipartisan Legislation\u00a0to\u00a0Provide Balanced Oversight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Michigan Senators Propose\u00a0Bipartisan Legislation\u00a0to\u00a0Provide Balanced Oversight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/irwin\/2025\/12\/10\/oversight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Senator Jeff Irwin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-10T17:51:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-10T17:51:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/irwin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/senirwin-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/irwin\/2025\/12\/10\/oversight\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/irwin\/2025\/12\/10\/oversight\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/irwin\/#\/schema\/person\/d70eb43c43b9d6128dac1bd664ee6466\"},\"headline\":\"Michigan Senators Propose\u00a0Bipartisan Legislation\u00a0to\u00a0Provide Balanced Oversight\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-10T17:51:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-10T17:51:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/irwin\/2025\/12\/10\/oversight\/\"},\"wordCount\":554,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/irwin\/2025\/12\/10\/oversight\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/irwin\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/19\/2025\/10\/senirwin.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/irwin\/2025\/12\/10\/oversight\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.senatedems.com\/irwin\/2025\/12\/10\/oversight\/\",\"name\":\"Michigan Senators Propose\u00a0Bipartisan Legislation\u00a0to\u00a0Provide Balanced Oversight - 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