Michigan lawmakers’ attention has been largely focused on bills surrounding pandemic relief and emergency powers to start the 2021 legislative session, which has precluded the typical flurry of bill introductions seen in previous legislative sessions. …

The 2019–2020 legislative session was quickly derailed as the focus of the legislature quickly turned to discussions surrounding the State’s response to SARS-CoV-2 and ensuing political infighting over appropriate public health measures. As such, the already low passage rate of most bills proposed in the MI legislature dropped even further…

The Michigan Legislature has remained active despite the 2020 election and ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, actively introducing and advancing bills related to animals throughout the fall. Largely, these bills either set new standards for what is considered a dangerous dog or are clerical changes to bills to become compliant with…

After a tumultuous Spring and several life changes over the Summer, it was necessary to take a step back from legislative updates for a few months. With the beginning of fall and only a handful of weeks before the November elections, it now felt like the appropriate time to dive…

The world has unquestionably changed since the February Update. Due to this, the priorities of the Michigan Legislature have appropriately shifted. …

Updates on MI Legislation Relating to Animals, Veterinary Medicine, and Public Health Despite focusing largely on budgetary matters, the Michigan Legislature was quite busy with other matters throughout February. …

Updates on CBD use in pets, deer baiting, and more. — Much like Michigan’s weather in January, this past month has been a bit gloomy in the State’s capitol. No new major bills were introduced that would impact animals, veterinarians, or public health; however, there were some significant updates to previously updated bills. …

As 2019 came to an end, only a pair of bills impacting animal policy were introduced into the legislature. Michigan certainly has its topics that remain quite partisan, however, policies improving animal welfare, protecting pets, and supporting veterinarians continue to have bipartisan support. In the first half of this legislative…

November was maybe the busiest and most significant month thus far for animal policy in the Michigan Legislature. A significant win at the federal level was the passage of H.R.724, The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act which became law on November 25th. This bill has been consistently pushed…