Dear Friends,

To better serve the people of the 30th Senate District, I am offering this “Week in Review.” I hope you will find it informative about what is happening in Lansing.

I encourage you to contact me with any state issue. You may call 517-373-6920 or email [email protected].  Also, please check out my Facebook page. Let me know if I can assist you in any way or if you have an idea to help move our state forward.

Working for you,
Roger Victory
State Senator

Recently, the legislative budget leaders and the state budget director announced that a deal has been reached on the upcoming state budget.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Stamas said, “The last year and a half has been hard on all of our families and communities. Addressing their needs — from jobs to education to government accountability — is at the center of [this] budget deal.”

I look forward to passing a balanced and responsible state budget this week that invests in our people and lays the groundwork for a healthy economy and bright future in our state.

I will include more details in the next update.

The governor recently signed my legislation to allow litigants to appeal a court’s decision to set aside a jury verdict, reflecting the importance of ensuring that jury verdicts cannot be overturned lightly.

As the chairman of the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, I have tried to improve our system of justice. My reform is about protecting the rights of both sides of a legal dispute.

In Michigan, after a jury verdict, if the losing party discovers new information that they believe might have changed the outcome of the case, they can ask the presiding judge for relief from the judgment. The judge can then grant relief and order a new trial.

Under Senate Bill 408, now Public Act 83 of 2021, the person who the jury sided with during the original trial would have the right to appeal the judge’s decision directly to the Court of Appeals before going through a second jury trial.

It is expected that the governor will sign my legislation this week to keep our strong drunken driving limit and protect our federal transportation funding.

Since 2003, Michigan’s legal blood alcohol limit for drunk driving has been 0.08. That year, legislators approved changing the blood alcohol content (BAC) limit from 0.10 to 0.08. According to the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning, there were 14,547 crashes involving alcohol in 2004. That number dropped to 9,636 by 2016.

In 2004, lawmakers also included a “sunset” on the law that would have it expire in 10 years. That has been extended twice and is currently set to expire Oct. 1. If the sunset is not eliminated or extended again, the legal limit will automatically increase to 0.10. Senate Bills 616 and 617 would immediately eliminate the sunset and maintain the current limit.

In addition to safety, the limit also is a key component in federal highway funding. States that do not use the 0.08 BAC limit receive a reduction in their federal road funding.

Process servers are the people responsible for delivering notice to individuals when legal action has arisen against them.

The Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee recently held a hearing on legislation designed to crack down on some bad actors who have claimed to have served a person with court papers before they even receive the very document from the court or when the person to be served was in prison.

Senate Bill 244 would require process servers to sign a declaration that the proof of service has been examined and that its contents are true under penalty of perjury. This signed statement would replace the current notary requirements, which only serves to verify that the person who has filed the service is who they say they are.

A certified court officer from Jackson told the committee that if a process server files false proofs of service, it could result in victims finding their bank accounts frozen, their wages garnished and their property seized.

The bill sponsor said that while a defendant can argue that they were not served, it may be impossible for them to go to court and prove an alibi for some unremarkable day that was many months, or perhaps years, earlier.

Click here to watch the committee hearing.

Below is a list of resources available to you if you need any type of assistance. Additionally, you can contact my office at any time for more information.