Written by
Christopher Behnan
Daily Press & Argus
State Sen. Joe Hune, R-Hamburg Township, this week voted to keep intact Michigan’s wolf hunt and the ability of an appointed panel to determine game species.
In the process, Hune supported one voter-driven proposal over another — a controversial move allowed in the state constitution.
The Legislature circumvents a public vote and a potential veto when it approves voter-initiated legislation.
Both Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management and Keep Michigan Wolves Protected gathered enough signatures for their proposals to appear on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management’s proposal, approved Wednesday in the Senate, would retain the wolf hunt and keep control of Michigan’s game list with the state’s Natural Resources Commission.
Keep Michigan Wolves Protected’s proposals were referendums on the state laws approving the hunt and authorizing the NRC to approve game species.
Hune said he supported the pro-wolf-hunt initiative because it upholds a hunt that manages a roughly 700-wolf population while allowing scientists to control the game list.
“It was essentially to allow the Department of Natural Resources, the scientists and the wildlife conservationists and what have you to designate them as game species. I voted for it in the past, and I voted for it again yesterday,” he said Thursday.
“I think if people have a disagreement, they should probably point to the constitution as the culprit. The constitution allows the Legislature to react to voter-initiated issues such as this, and we reacted,” Hune added.
‘Stifling the voters’
The constitution was used in the same way when the Legislature approved a voter initiative to require insurance riders for abortions, including in cases of rape or incest.
In a Senate floor speech, Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, said the GOP-led Legislature voted in favor of the abortion-rider measure because it fit the Republican agenda.
Whitmer said her GOP colleagues this week protected the interests of a group that reflected their beliefs over one that did not. In the process, she said, a fraction of Michigan’s voters were represented.
She urged the Senate to keep both proposals on the ballot and let voters have the final say.
“This proposal is explicitly intended to push one special interest’s agenda and to override the people’s right to vote on this issue in November. As with the awful ‘rape insurance’ citizens’ initiative pushed through last year, once again, you’re letting 3 percent of the population dictate the rights and laws that affect 100 percent of our people, again overstepping the bounds of this body and again stifling the voters of Michigan,” Whitmer said.
The Legislature in 2012 added the gray wolf to the state’s game list and authorized the first wolf-hunting season. A law passed the following year authorized the NRC to designate game species.
A total 22 wolves were killed in the first hunting season. There are about 700 wolves in Michigan.
What’s next
The House is expected to consider the proposal, the Scientific Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, when it meets Aug. 27. If approved, the proposal becomes law and the referendums are nullified.
If approved in the House, the bill also wouldn’t be subject to referendum because it includes an appropriation to manage aquatic species, including Asian carp in the Great Lakes. Michigan bills that include funding are not subject to a public challenge.
State Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Genoa Township, said it doesn’t make sense for the Legislature or voters, who are not trained in animal science, to make the decision.
Rogers said approval of the measure would support the voice of all voters because they elected the Legislature that represents them.
“The voters in theory do have a say because they have elected those people to do what they think is best for their constituents and the state, and that’s always going to be the case,” he said.
Rogers said he was concerned that the one ballot issue, if approved in the House, would nullify the others. He said it could set an unfair precedent.
State Rep. Cindy Denby, R-Handy Township, said she will vote in favor of the bill if it comes to a House vote.
Denby, too, said she supports the ability of scientists and those with wildlife backgrounds to determine game species.
“We are given issues to make decisions on, and if that’s brought before the House, that’s how I will vote,” she said.
“The bottom line is I try to represent the interests of the majority of people in my district. I take all of these issues on a case-by-case basis,” Denby added.
Keep Michigan Wolves Protected notes the NRC is made of governor-appointed members rather than scientists.
Four members of the current seven-member NRC have science degrees, however.
Judy Daubenmier, chairwoman of the Livingston County Democratic Party, said the Legislature does not necessarily reflect voters’ wishes.
Daubenmier said Michigan’s legislative districts have been gerrymandered to the point where they no longer represent the majority of their constituents.
She said the state Democratic Party is expected to consider adding an anti-wolf-hunt measure to its platform at its convention this month.
“People are concerned that the democratic process has sort of been short-circuited. We trust the people to vote, and they should be allowed to vote rather than have the Legislature get in the way,” Daubenmier said.
“They’re not subject to the influence of lobbyists the way legislators are,” she added.