Sturgis-Coldwater News

While the COVID-19 pandemic experienced a recent resurgence in Michigan, a significant number of state representatives also failed to make a significant portion of votes in the state Legislature.

State Sen. Adam Hollier (D-Detroit) and state Rep. Steve Marino (R-Harrison Twp.) had the highest number of missed roll call votes in their respective houses of the Legislature in the last session, according to coverage by Michigan Capitol Confidential. However, unlike many of his colleagues, Hollier is a member of the U.S. Army Reserve, and a full half, 51, of his missed votes were due to him fulfilling his military obligations.

With 303 out of 1,027 votes missed, Marino missed the most votes out of any members of the Legislature, according to Capitol Confidential. He was followed in the Michigan House by state Rep. Kristy Pagan (D-Canton Twp.), who missed 301 votes.

Capitol Confidential noted that Marino said he experienced health problems during the session, which contributed to his absences.

Hollier led the state Senate in missed votes, having missed 102 of 1,002 roll call votes, according to Capitol Confidential. He had nearly twice as many missed votes as state Sen. Peter Lucido (R-Shelby Twp.), who had the second-most missed votes in the state Senate with 57.

Overall, the number of missed votes for the Legislature as a total was higher than it had been during the entire two-year term of each of the previous three legislatures, according to Capitol Confidential. The previous legislatures missed 3,641, 2,283 and 2,789 votes over two-year terms, while the current Legislature had 3,840 votes missed during its term.

Out of those missed roll call votes, 3,072 occurred just during 2020, as result of some of the state’s lawmakers spent time in quarantine related to the pandemic, according to Capitol Confidential. Only 768 of them, by contrast, were missed during 2019.