Committee Meeting Resources

SUPPORTING POSITION: You want to require Michigan law enforcement officers to wear and use a body camera when on duty, in uniform, and carrying a taser or weapon to provide for greater accountability and safety for both public and within law enforcement.

OPPOSING POSITION: You do NOT want to require Michigan law enforcement officers to wear and use a body camera when on duty and carrying a taser or weapon, due to concerns of privacy and the dangers of a blanket policy for all local law enforcement agencies.

Bill and Analysis – HB 5019 Body Cameras

Additional Resources – Use these resources to help craft your presentation

• Pros and Cons of Police Body Cameras
• Supporting Arguments – Testimony

SUPPORTING POSITION: You want TO ALLOW Newborn Safety Devices (NSDs) to be installed and used at emergency service provider locations in order to ensure the safety of newborns who are being legally abandoned by parents who are unwilling to engage in face-to-face interaction while legally abandoning their child.

OPPOSING POSITION: You OPPOSE this bill. It does not address who will be held liable happens to a baby placed in an NSD as well as requiring standards for NSD to be outlined by the Michigan department of Health after the bill passes, rather than including those standards in the bill itself. This means that no one will know what those standards are until after this bill is signed into law.

Bill and Analysis – HB 5751 Safe Haven Device

Additional Resources – Use these resources to help craft your presentation

• Support and Opposition – Bill Summary 
• Opposing Arguments – Testimony

SUPPORTING POSITION: Wireless providers should be REQUIRED BY LAW TO PROVIDE the location information on a wireless device to a law enforcement officer in emergency conditions. 

OPPOSING POSITION: Wireless providers should have the FREEDOM TO DECIDE whether to release location information on a cell phone to a law enforcement officer in an emergency.

Bill and Analysis – HB 4006 Cell Phones in Emergencies

Additional Resources – Use these resources to help craft your presentation

SUPPORTING POSITION: You want schools to be REQUIRED TO CREATE A POLICY formally prohibiting bullying with procedures and punishments. 

OPPOSING POSITION: You want schools to have the FREEDOM TO DECIDE procedure and policy for bullying on a case by case basis.

Bill and Analysis – HB 4162 Prohibit Bullying

Additional Resources – Use these resources to help craft your presentation

• Explanatory Article
• Supporting Arguments – Testimony
• Opposing Arguments – Testimony 1
• Opposing Arguments – Testimony 2
• Opposing Arguments – Testimony 3

SUPPORTING POSITION: Lower the voting age to 16.

OPPOSING POSITION: Keep the voting age at 18

Bill and Analysis – HB 6183 Lower Voting Age

Additional Resources – Use these resources to help craft your presentation

• Supporting Arguments – Testimony
• Opposing Arguments – Testimony 1
• Opposing Arguments – Testimony 2

SUPPORTING POSITION: You want to create a legal definition for vulnerable children (i.e., a child with disabilities) and INCREASE PENALTIES for abusing a vulnerable child.  

OPPOSING POSITION: You want to MAINTAIN THE PENALTIES FOR CHILD ABUSE.

Bill and Analysis – HB 4071 Abuse of a Vulnerable Child

Additional Resources – Use these resources to help craft your presentation

• Support and Opposition – Bill Summary
• Explanatory Article
• Supporting Arguments – Testimony
• Supporting Arguments – Testimony 2

SUPPORTING POSITION: You want to ALLOW PAROLE for certain criminals who meet certain medical requirements.

OPPOSING POSITION: You want to MAINTAIN CURRENT PENALTIES AND PROCEDURES for criminals, even if they have certain medical issues.

Bill and Analysis – HB 4129 Medically Frail Parole

Additional Resources – Use these resources to help craft your presentation

• Supporting Arguments – Testimony
• Supporting Arguments – Explanation and Testimony
• Opposing Arguments – Testimony
• Opposing Arguments – Testimony 2
• Support and Opposition – Bill Summary

SUPPORTING POSITION: You want to REINSTATE THE DEATH PENALTY in Michigan.
*Note: While in real life, passing this resolution would bring the issue to the Michigan people to vote on, for LEAD, the students will be framing the debate as though passing this resolution would reinstate the death penalty.

OPPOSING POSITION: You want the death penalty to REMAIN UNCONSTITUTIONAL in Michigan.
*Note: While in real life, passing this resolution would bring the issue to the Michigan people to vote on, for LEAD, the students will be framing the debate as though passing this resolution would reinstate the death penalty.

Bill and Analysis – HJR H Death Penalty

Additional Resources – Use these resources to help craft your presentation

• Supporting Arguments – Testimony
• Supporting Arguments – Testimony 2
• Opposing Arguments – Testimony
• Opposing Arguments – Article 
• Support and Opposition – Bill Summary

SUPPORTING POSITION: You want to allow volunteer emergency responders to fulfill their obligations to the public without having to suffer adverse employment consequences.

OPPOSING POSITION: You want employers to take a person’s obligations into account during hiring without fear of a potential lawsuit.

Bill and Analysis – SB 162 Emergency Responder Job Protection

Additional Resources – Use these resources to help craft your presentation

• Explanatory Article – News Article Explaining First Responder Burnout
• Explanatory Article – Bill Introduction

SUPPORTING POSITION: You want regulation on knives to be consistent across the state by restricting local ordinances regarding knives.

OPPOSING POSITION: You want local municipalities to be allowed to govern restrictions on knives based on the needs of that township, county, etc.

Bill and Analysis – HB 5286 Prohibit Local Knife Restrictions

Additional Resources – Use these resources to help craft your presentation. 

• Explanatory Article – Current Knife Laws in Michigan

Please note that there are two versions of this bill: HB 5286 (2019) which was not passed in committee, and HB 4066 (2021) which passed both the House and Senate, but was vetoed by the Governor. The content of each bill is identical, and articles about both bills may be used to craft your arguments. Please refer to the bill as HB 5286, as this is the version we are using in the simulation. The bill is to be considered on first reading, so we ask that you not reference the bill’s real world progress in the legislature (i.e. it being vetoed by the Governor).

SUPPORTING POSITION: ALLOW TERMINALLY ILL PATIENTS THE RIGHT TO TRY EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENTS whose effectiveness, safety, or danger is still unknown.

OPPOSING POSITION: DENY TERMINALLY ILL PATIENTS THE RIGHT TO TRY EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENTS whose effectiveness, safety, and danger is still unknown.

Bill and Analysis – SB 991 Right to Try

Additional Resources – Use these resources to help craft your presentation

• Supporting Arguments – Testimony
• Opposing  Arguments  – Testimony
• Assessment of the Right-to-Try Law: The Pros and the Cons – Article
• Pharmacy and Therapeutics – Article

SUPPORTING POSITION: Individuals who have spent time in prison for a crime they did not commit SHOULD BE AUTOMATICALLY COMPENSATED.

OPPOSING POSITION: THE STATUS QUO SHOULD BE PRESERVED allowing wrongfully imprisoned individuals to sue state for compensation. 

Bill and Analysis – SB 98 Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation

Additional Resources – Use these resources to help craft your presentation

• Supporting Arguments – Testimony
• Supporting Arguments – Testimony 2
• Supporting Arguments – Article
• Supporting Arguments – Statistics
• Opposing Arguments – Testimony
• Opposing Arguments – Testimony 2