For once, Michigan Legislators’ maneuvers to advance their agenda and satisfy special interests despite public opposition has backfired on them.
In 2014, Michigan voters rejected, by large margins, two proposals that would have legalized wolf hunting in the state. Despite voters’ opposition, the Legislature soon after passed a law allowing the Natural Resources Commission to designate gray wolves as game animals and Gov. Rick Snyder signed it.
To reinforce their disdain for voters, the law included a $1 million appropriation that blocked wolf-hunt opponents from taking it back to voters for another referendum. The conniving didn’t end there. First, the law makes no mention of hunting wolves, although everyone — politicians, lobbyists, opponents and critics — knew that was its point.
Second, just to make sure nobody could call it the classless, cynical ploy that it was, they wrapped the flag around it. The law includes a provision for free hunting and fishing licenses for members of the military.
Fortunately for wolves, bait-and-switch legislation isn’t legal. The state Court of Appeals ruled the law unconstitutional this week.
The “title-object clause” of the Michigan constitution requires lawmakers to be honest and transparent. Lawmakers may not adopt a bill titled “scientific wildlife management,” for instance, when the contents of the bill are something else entirely. A bill named “Legalizing wolf hunting despite voter opposition” would have passed the test, though.