LANSING – As the dust settles from Election Day and Republicans look at their increased majorities in both chambers, a comprehensive solution to road funding was the talk of a lame-duck agenda by both Governor Rick Snyder and Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville on Wednesday.

And though there have been some rumblings of House interest in repealing the state’s prevailing wage law or changing the way votes are divvied up in the Electoral College, both Snyder and Richardville (R-Monroe) rejected those ideas as lame duck topics.

“I think it’s a sissy way out and I don’t want to take the sissy way out,” Richardville said in a phone interview Wednesday about making changes to the Electoral College. Rep. Pete Lund (R-Shelby Township) is considering a bill that would award the state’s electoral votes for president on a proportional basis, not winner take all as is now the case and used in 48 of the 50 states as well as the District of Columbia.

And Snyder, in an interview with the Detroit Free Press editorial board, said he’s “not interested in repealing prevailing wage laws or having a discussion on changes to the Electoral College.”

Richardville said there should be no reason for Republicans to try to change the Electoral College system given the victories of the Republican Party last night.

“We got a real vote of confidence last night in Michigan whereas it seemed very anti-incumbent across country,” he said. “Our message is a great message. We just don’t message it well sometimes. (Snyder’s) resume and what he and the Legislature have accomplished in the last four years is an amazing story.”

Asked if he would consider Electoral College changes if his caucus expressed an interest in it, he said he did not think the caucus had that interest.

The same goes for trying to repeal the prevailing wage law, Richardville said, adding that most of the current Senate members will be back next year, so they can take up the issue then if they wish (when he is gone).

“(It’s) not on my agenda,” he said. “Send it over. I’m not doing it.”

Above all, the number one priority to Richardville is roads.

“I want to make sure if we do it, we get the job done. I’m willing to talk about anything, but I want to make sure it’s a complete proposal and we don’t just punt on this one,” he said. “I think most of the people in the House have a genuine concern for the roads, too, I just want to make sure that we don’t think continuing to work over the next few years is the best way to get this problem solved.”

Richardville did not lay out specifics on a road funding proposal, though he has talked for months about reviewing the way the formula distributes funds or looking at certain fees for overweight trucks and warranties for construction work on roads. At the time, he was not looking at increased funding, but it seems he may be changing his tune there.

In May, the Senate failed to pass several increased funding proposals sent to it by the House even after rewriting some of the sales tax proposals in ways that would not have made significant changes in funding. The concern then was that many Republicans did not want to vote on such a measure prior to the August primary.

Snyder told the Free Press and others that he, too, is interested in pursuing a comprehensive solution to road funding (see related story).

As for changing the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity, Richardville assertively reaffirmed Wednesday that he would allow a debate.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA, TERM LIMITS, AND MORE: Though the potential lame-duck agenda is fluid given he still has to talk with members about their goals, Richardville said he personally would still like to make changes to the state’s term limits, not to the benefit of current legislators, but to allow more flexibility for future lawmakers to serve a total of 12 years, or more, between either of the chambers rather than the current six-year, three-term limit in the House and eight-year, two-term limit in the Senate.

He said legislation allowing for medical marijuana dispensaries and the use of different forms of medical marijuana is still on his radar as well, as is his film incentive bill (currently sitting in the House) that he says would better build the industry in the long-term by changing some of the current regulations.

And Richardville said he expects teacher evaluation legislation to come up before the end of the year. The legislation hasn’t seen much traction in the Senate since getting a hearing in June except for a call by teachers and administrators in late September to take the bills up as soon as possible.

And legislation regulating the use of e-cigarettes could still be a go, though it was not immediately clear when or in what form. Richardville had introduced wide-ranging changes to the state’s laws on tobacco taxes some time ago, but little has moved since then.

EAA EXPANSION UNCERTAIN, MCLAREN A GO: Though he was uncertain on whether the Senate would do anything to expand the Education Achievement Authority (Sen. Phil Pavlov (R-St. Clair) and Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons (R-Alto) have been back-and-forth on the measure), Mr. Richardville could say with full certainty that he wanted to clear a bill that would allow McLaren Health System to build a new facility near Clarkston by downsizing its facility in Pontiac (SB 1073 ).

The bill had been held up from being reported by the Senate Government Operations Committee in late September, but Richardville has since hinted that he may discharge the bill from committee to be decided on the floor.

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