gophouse.org District 110 Representative Greg Markkanen addresses the House on June 6, 2019, in support of his resolution commemorating the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

Republican Greg Markkanen is seeking reelection to his seat on the Michigan House of Representatives against Democrat Janet Metsa. During his last term, Markkanen introduced 36 bills and resolutions and missed 117 votes. Following is a summary of his record, compiled from michiganvotes.org, an information site run by the nonpartisan, nonprofit Mackinac Center for Public Policy, and legislature.mi.gov, the official website of the Michigan Legislature.

Introduced bills

Markkanen has introduced a total of 36 bills and resolutions so far, though many of those have been referred to committee and have not seen a vote.

In 2019, he introduced House Bill 4028 with Rep. Beau LaFave, which was part of a package of bills that would remove the license required for carrying a concealed pistol. It was referred to committee and has not seen a vote. Bills meant to reduce the cost of purchasing used equipment from the state by local governments, reduce drunk driving penalties, revise county road snow removal funding, eliminate caps on net metering, create the Upper Peninsula Natural Resources Commission, introduce term limits for village officers, and several more have also yet to be voted on at all.  

Markkanen also introduced House Bill 4120, which would have extended the allowable loan period for road commissions. 

“This extended installment period will help rural counties gain access to financing that would otherwise be too costly when financed over a 15-year period,” Markkanen said. “It will allow the Keweenaw County Road Commission to make much needed improvements to its maintenance barn while continuing to invest more into repairing our roads.”

This bill passed the House, was amended to apply to only counties with a population of less than 100,000 and passed by the Senate, and then vetoed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Whitmer said the Senate amendment was unfairly biased.

The bill was reintroduced in 2020, but has seen no movement. 

Whitmer signed legislation Markkanen introduced to raise the weight limit of a “heavy-duty truck” to at least 14,000 pounds, allowing normal mechanics to work on larger modern pickup trucks.

“If a small shop doesn’t have a special heavy-duty mechanic on duty they have to turn away anyone who shows up in a pickup truck, even if the customer only wanted a basic brake job,” Markkanen said in a press release. “Heavy-duty certified mechanics in a larger shop might get pulled away from a job on a legitimate heavy-duty truck to perform a routine repair on a pickup truck.”

Markkanen introduced legislation that would allow veterinarians to consult with a pet owner on the use of marijuana or CBD for the animal. 

“There’s more and more research on the uses of CBD oil and marijuana products for patient care and pain control – in humans as well as pets,” Markkanen said in a press release. “We must make sure our veterinarians are able to have open and honest conversations about the products, so Michigan pet owners can make well-informed decisions about what is best for their animals.”

During the COVID-19 epidemic, Markkanen introduced a bill that allows public school students to take more classes online during the 2020-21 school year, and for tax dollars to pay for classes at charter schools or universities. This bill passed the House mostly along party lines. He also introduced a widely-supported bill that extended deadlines for county equalization record submission to the state. Both bills were signed into law.

Resolutions

The House passed several resolutions that Markkanen introduced. Resolutions don’t carry the force of law, but signal the legislative body’s feelings or intention. Most recently, Markkanen introduced a resolution supporting the timely permitting of the Line 5 tunnel project. It passed 80 to 28.

“It will protect the Great Lakes from the threat of a spill while ensuring Upper Peninsula families still have access to the energy they need to heat their homes each winter. As an added bonus, the construction project will create hundreds of jobs for Michigan workers,” Markkanen said in a press release.

He successfully introduced a resolution that urged the removal of the gray wolf from federal endangered and threatened species lists in May of 2019.

“It’s time to move from federal to state control and allow the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to control the population of this predator,” Markkanen said in a press release shortly before the October 2019 vote.

Other resolutions that have passed declared Clean Energy Week in Michigan, commemorated the 75th anniversary of D-Day, and declared Greek Independence Day. The only resolution he introduced that did not pass, or even receive a vote, opposed the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community’s application for treatment as a state under the Clean Water and Clean Air acts.

Amendments

Markkanen introduced four amendments to existing bills, three of which passed. One expanded the uses of foster care scholarships, and another expanded the membership of the suicide prevention commission.

The other two amendments both concerned the closing of the Ojibway Correctional Facility. The first, which failed, would have allocated $250,000 to convert the prison into a correctional officer training academy. The second, which passed, simply added the facility to a study of possible locations for such an academy.

Breaks with party

Markkanen broke with the Republican Party on nine votes in the last two years. 

In May of 2019, he was one of only ten representatives to vote against childproof container requirements for “electronic nicotine delivery systems,” commonly called vape pens or vapes, and requiring them to be kept behind a counter. He voted in favor of a ban on sales to minors the same day, and in favor of a ban on products with added vitamin E.

Later that year, when Gov. Whitmer gave an emergency order banning the sale of flavored e-cigarette products for six months, Markkanen issued a statement in protest.

“We can all agree that vaping products must be kept out of the hands of children. That’s why I voted earlier this year to support legislation banning the sale and possession of all vaping products to minors,” Markkanen said in a press release. “This time around, the governor decided to forgo the traditional legislative process and instead make the decision on her own – without holding any committee meetings or public testimony. People deserve a chance to have their voices heard.”

He voted against mandatory dental screening and testing for children entering kindergarten or first grade. He voted against increasing restrictions on phone use while driving, particularly for those under the age of 18. He voted against three bills that make revisions in commercial fishing law that, among other things, would require anchored commercial nets location be reported to state authorities via GPS. He voted against two bills that ban using open records requests to the Department of Natural Resources to locate huntable game. He also voted against a study on adding tolls to some freeways.

In each case, the bills still passed the House.

Missed votes

Markkanen missed a total of 117 votes during the term so far. The average for other U.P. legislators in the same time period is about 16 missed votes.

He would not have been a tie-breaking or decision making vote in any of the cases. The closest had a margin of at least five votes.