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Michigan legislators are missing fewer votes in the state House and Senate, according to a new report.
The report by the Mackinac Center shows the state’s 38 senators and 110 representatives missed a combined 1,055 recorded roll call votes in 2015.
That’s down from 1,093 in 2014.
Jack McHugh, the report’s editor, says the number of missed votes by state legislators has pretty much been on a downward trend since the report began in the 2001-02 session.
That year 21,162 votes were missed.
Senate Democratic Leader Jim Ananich missed the most votes in his chamber at 71.
In the House, Representative Paul Muxloh, a Republican, missed 129 votes.
But McHugh says not to jump to conclusions.
He notes in most cases votes are missed when lawmakers are called off the floor for legitimate reasons, like to conduct other legislative work or for serious family or personal issues.
However, he says, a consistent pattern of missed votes should raise questions.
The full report is available at MichiganVote.org.
