Rep. Andrew Beeler is the seventh member of the House to announce he will not seek reelection this year.
A Senate panel on Thursday reported bills to expand Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy rulemaking authority and to create the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office in the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, respectively.
The state's environmental agency would be able to, for the first time since 2006, make administrative rules related to water resources protection under a bill before a Senate committee on Thursday.
A divided Senate passed legislation Tuesday to eliminate a committee intended to provide oversight of the state's environmental regulatory agency following a debate over the panel's effectiveness and the department's responsiveness to businesses and the public.
Two-thirds of the Michigan Senate Republican caucus earlier this month endorsed former President Donald Trump in his bid for returning to the White House.
Democrats continue their efforts in the Legislature to repeal three committees created toward the end of former Republican Governor Rick Snyder's tenure that oversee operations at the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
House Democrats ran into their first obstacle of spilt membership on Wednesday when a concurrence vote on a bill modifying emergency safety intervention in children's therapeutic group homes failed to pass the chamber.
Democrats took control of state government for the first time in decades in January with Governor Gretchen Whitmer winning reelection and the party taking both the House and Senate.
The Democratic-controlled Legislature completed its work on one of its top fall priorities Wednesday, giving final passage to bills that would quadruple the state's renewable energy mandate, create a new clean energy standard and move siting decisions for large-scale solar and wind projects to the Public Service Commission .
Democrats took a key step in passing one of their top priorities with the Senate's approval of a quadrupled renewable energy mandate on Thursday with Republicans sharply critical of the move they say would result in higher utility bills and diminished grid reliability.