Government of Michigan | |
---|---|
Part of | United States |
Constitution | Constitution of Michigan |
Legislative branch | |
Name | Michigan Legislature |
Type | Bicameral |
Meeting place | Michigan State Capitol |
Upper house | |
Name | Senate |
Presiding officer | Garlin Gilchrist, President |
Lower house | |
Name | House of Representatives |
Presiding officer | Joe Tate, Speaker |
Executive branch | |
Head of State and Government | |
Title | Governor |
Currently | Gretchen Whitmer |
Appointer | Election |
Cabinet | |
Leader | Governor |
Deputy leader | Lieutenant Governor |
Headquarters | Gretchen Whitmer |
Judicial branch | |
Name | Judiciary of Michigan |
Courts | Courts of Michigan |
Michigan Supreme Court | |
Chief judge | Elizabeth T. Clement |
Seat | Lansing |
Michigan has a republican form of government with three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the governor of Michigan and the other independently elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch consisting of the House of Representatives and Senate; and the judicial branch consisting of the one court of justice. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, recall, and ratification. [1]
The Michigan Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral institution consisting of the Senate, the upper house, and the House of Representatives, the lower house. Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, adopted in 1963, defines the role of the legislature and how it is to be constituted. Legislative acts are published in the official Acts of the Legislature and codified in the Michigan Compiled Laws . [2] The Michigan Legislature meets in the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, Michigan. Michigan is one of ten states to have a full-time legislature. [3] [4]
The state officers compensation commission, consisting of seven governor appointed members, exists to set salaries for the governor and other elected officials, unless a two-thirds majority in both legislative chambers turned it down. [5]
The independent redistricting commission draws up legislative and congressional districts after each census. The 13 non-office holding members consisting of five independent members, four self-declared Democrats and four self-declared Republicans, would be selected randomly by the secretary of state from submitted applications. [6]
A Commission on legislative apportionment was written into the 1963 state constitution. However, the same state constitution provided for land weighting factors for state senatorial districts. Such weighting factors were found unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in Reynolds v Sims (1964) for violating the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. [7] Because land weighting factors were interdependent and not severable from the commission on legislative apportionment, the commission was also invalidated by the Supreme Court's decision in Reynolds v Sims (1964). This commission was transferred to the Department of State under the Executive Organization Act OF 1965. [8] The state legislature has apportioned districts after census until 2020 as the November 6, 2018 general election proposal 2 created a constitutional independent redistricting commission. [6]
Michigan's elected executive officers are: [1]
For elected single person executives, term limits of two terms were put into place in 1993. [1] Since 1966, the lieutenant governor is elected with the governor on the same ticket. [9] The lieutenant governor is the president of the Michigan Senate [1] and acts as the governor when the governor is unable to execute the office, including whenever the governor leaves the state. The governor is the principal executive officer with the power of veto, appointment, reorganize executive government, budget proposal and other powers. [1]
The two other elected constitutional executives of the state are the secretary of state and attorney general. Both are elected separately for four-year terms concurrently with the governor/lieutenant governor slate. The elected officeholders are second and third in the line of succession respectively and may act as governor during disabilities or absences from the state. The attorney general is the state's chief law enforcement officer, executive agencies legal counsel and leads the Department of the Attorney General. The secretary of state and its department handles automobile-related licensing, elections and record holding. [1]
The 1963 Constitution requires that all permanent agencies or commissions, except universities, be assigned to one of a maximum of 20 principal departments. [1] The principal departments are the Department of: [10] [11]
Type 1 agencies are under the administration of the agency but operate independently of the principal department in carrying out its function and in most cases created by a type 1 transfer. [12] Regulations are published in the Michigan Register (MR) and codified in the Michigan Administrative Code (MAC or AC). [13] [14] [15]
The state board of Education is a statewide elected board that head the Michigan Department of Education which oversees all education except that of the state universities. [1]
Michigan's state universities are immune from control by the legislature, many aspects of the executive branch, and cities in which they are located; but they are not immune from the authority of the courts. Some degree of political control is exercised as the legislature approves appropriations for the schools. Furthermore, the governor appoints the board of control of most state universities with the advice and consent of the state Senate. Only the board members of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University are chosen in general elections.
In Michigan, medical and recreational cannabis is regulated by the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency, formerly called the Marijuana Regulatory Agency. [16] Initially, when the law was passed, the state ran a Bureau of Marijuana Regulation within the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. [17]
The court system consists of the Michigan Supreme Court, the Michigan Court of Appeals as the intermediate appellate court, the circuit courts and district courts as the two primary trial courts, and several administrative courts and specialized courts. The Supreme Court administers all the courts. The Michigan Supreme Court consists of seven members who are elected on non-partisan ballots for staggered eight-year terms, while state appellate court judges are elected to terms of six years and vacancies are filled by an appointment by the governor, and circuit court and district court judges are elected to terms of six years.
Michigan is largely divided in the same way as many other U.S. states, but is distinct in its usage of charter townships. Michigan ranks 13th among the 50 states in terms of the number of local governmental entities.
The state is divided into 83 counties, and further divided into 1,240 townships, 276 cities, and 257 villages. Additionally, the state consists of 553 school districts, 57 intermediate school districts, 14 planning and development regions, and over 300 special districts and authorities. [18]
Michigan has home rule for counties, meaning there is flexibility for the organization of county government and number of elected officials. [19]
Some common elected officials include:
The government of California is the governmental structure of the U.S. state of California as established by the California Constitution. California uses the separation of powers system to structure its government. It is composed of three branches: the executive, consisting of the governor of California and the other constitutionally elected and appointed officers and offices; the legislative, consisting of the California State Legislature, which includes the Assembly and the Senate; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court of California and lower courts. There is also local government, consisting of counties, cities, special districts, and school districts, as well as government entities and offices that operate independently on a constitutional, statutory, or common law basis. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, recall and ratification.
The government of Maryland is conducted according to the Maryland Constitution. The United States is a federation; consequently, the government of Maryland, like the other 49 state governments, has exclusive authority over matters that lie entirely within the state's borders, except as limited by the Constitution of the United States.
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The Constitution of the State of Michigan is the governing document of the U.S. state of Michigan. It describes the structure and function of the state's government.
The government of Texas operates under the Constitution of Texas and consists of a unitary democratic state government operating under a presidential system that uses the Dillon Rule, as well as governments at the county and municipal levels.
The government of the U.S. State of Oklahoma, established by the Oklahoma Constitution, is a republican democracy modeled after the federal government of the United States. The state government has three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. Through a system of separation of powers or "checks and balances," each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches.
The Government of Colorado is the governmental structure as established by the Constitution of the State of Colorado. It is composed of three branches: the executive branch headed by the Governor, the legislative branch consisting of the General Assembly, and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court and lower courts. The constitution also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, recall and ratification.
The government of the U.S. state of Oregon, as prescribed by the Oregon Constitution, is composed of three government branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. These branches operate in a manner similar to that of the federal government of the United States.
The government of the State of New Jersey is separated into three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The powers of the State of New Jersey are vested by the Constitution of New Jersey, enacted in 1947, in a bicameral state legislature, the Governor, and the state courts, headed the New Jersey Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts of the state legislature, including the creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court.
As established and defined by the Montana Constitution, the government of the State of Montana is composed of three branches, the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative. The powers of initiative and referendum are reserved for the citizens of Montana.
The Government of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the governmental structure of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as established by the Pennsylvania Constitution. It is composed of three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. The capital of the Commonwealth is Harrisburg.
The government of Virginia combines the executive, legislative and judicial branches of authority in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The current governor of Virginia is Glenn Youngkin. The State Capitol building in Richmond was designed by Thomas Jefferson, and the cornerstone was laid by Governor Patrick Henry in 1785. Virginia currently functions under the 1971 Constitution of Virginia. It is Virginia's seventh constitution. Under the Constitution, the government is composed of three branches: the legislative, the executive and the judicial.
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The Government of Tennessee is organized under the provisions of the 1870 Constitution of Tennessee, first adopted in 1796. As set forth by the state constitution, administrative influence in Tennessee is divided among three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial.
The Government of West Virginia is modeled after the Government of the United States, with three branches: the executive, consisting of the Governor of West Virginia and the other elected constitutional officers; the legislative, consisting of the West Virginia Legislature which includes the Senate and the House of Delegates; and the judicial, consisting of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and lower courts.
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