Legislative Analysis
Phone: (517) 373-8080
ASSAULT OF EMPLOYEES OF A BUS SERVICE,
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
STREET RAILWAY SERVICE, OR RAILROAD
Analysis available at
House Bills 4917 (H-2) and 4918 (H-1) as reported from committee http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Sponsor: Rep. Samantha Steckloff
Committee: Criminal Justice
Complete to 11-8-23
SUMMARY:
House Bill 4918 would amend the Michigan Penal Code to prohibit a person from assaulting,
battering, or assaulting and battering an individual while the individual is performing their
duties as the operator of a bus, street railway vehicle, or train or because of the individual’s
status as an employee or contractor of a bus service, street railway service, or railroad. A
violation would be a crime as follows:
• Simple assault: A person who violates the above prohibition with no aggravating
factors would be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to 93
days or a fine of up to $1,000, or both. 1 With a prior conviction for violating the
above prohibition, regardless of aggravating factors, the person would be guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to 180 days or a fine of up to $2,000,
or both.
• Aggravated assault: A person who violates the above prohibition without a weapon
and inflicts serious or aggravated injury on the individual without intending to commit
murder or to inflict great bodily harm less than murder would be guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to $2,000,
or both. 2 With a prior conviction for violating the above prohibition, regardless of
aggravating factors, the person would be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment
for up to two years or a fine of up to $4,000, or both.
• Assault with a deadly weapon: A person who violates the above prohibition by
assaulting the individual with a gun, revolver, pistol, knife, iron bar, club, brass
knuckles, or other dangerous weapon without intending to commit murder or to inflict
great bodily harm less than murder would be guilty of a felony punishable by
imprisonment for up to four years or a fine of up to $4,000, or both. 3 With a prior
conviction for violating the above prohibition, regardless of aggravating factors, the
person would be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to eight years or
a fine of up to $8,000, or both.
Bus would mean a motor vehicle, except for a school bus, that is designed to carry 15
or more passengers in addition to the driver.
1
Currently, if the law prescribes no other penalty, a person who assaults or assaults and batters an individual is guilty
of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to 93 days or a fine of up to $500, or both.
2
Currently, except in specified circumstances, a person who assaults an individual without a weapon and inflicts
serious or aggravated injury without intending to commit murder or inflict great bodily harm less than murder is guilty
of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to $1,000, or both.
3
Currently, except in specified circumstances, a person who assaults an individual with a gun, knife, iron bar, club,
brass knuckles, or other dangerous weapon without intending to commit murder or inflict great bodily harm less than
murder is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to four years or a fine of up to $2,000, or both.
House Fiscal Agency Page 1 of 4
 Street railway vehicle would mean a streetcar, trolly, or tram that is operated on a rail.
Train would mean an engine or other motor operated on railroad tracks, regardless of
whether cars are coupled to the engine or motor. (Railroad track means stationary rail
owned or used by a railroad, but does not include a stationary rail used by a streetcar
or that is part of a street railway system.)
Street railway service would mean either of the following:
• An organization formed under Michigan law for the purpose of operating a
street railway system other than a railroad train for transporting persons or
property. (For purposes of this definition, a street railway system means the
facilities, equipment, and personnel required to provide and maintain a public
transportation service; it is operated on rails principally within a municipality
using streetcars, trolleys, and trams to transport persons or property; it may
manufacture, use, sell, and supply electricity and electric power.)
• The facilities, equipment, and personnel required to provide and maintain a
public transportation system operated on rails at grade or above or below
ground within a city, village, or township utilizing streetcars, trolleys, light rail
vehicles, or trams for the transportation of individuals or property. This also
includes necessary power feeds, signals, and stops or stations within a public
right-of-way, but it excludes facilities and improvements that are not required
to maintain a public transportation system.
Railroad would mean a person, partnership, association, or corporation, their
respective lessees, trustees, or receivers, appointed by a court, or other legal entity
operating in Michigan either as a common carrier for hire or for private use as a carrier
of persons or property upon cars operated upon stationary rails and would include any
person, partnership, association, corporation, trustee, or receiver appointed by a court
or any other legal entity owning railroad tracks.
The bill would not prohibit a person from being charged with, convicted of, or punished for
any other violation of law arising out of the same transaction as a violation described above.
Proposed MCL 750.81g
House Bill 4917 would amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to add the felonies proposed
by HB 4918 to the sentencing guidelines. Felonious assault (i.e., with a deadly weapon) on a
transit operator or employee would be a Class F crime against a person with a statutory
maximum term of imprisonment of five years. Aggravated assault with a prior conviction
would be a Class G crime against a person with a maximum term of imprisonment of two years.
Felonious assault with a prior conviction would be a Class G 4 crime against a person with a
maximum term of imprisonment of eight years.
The bill could not take effect unless HB 4918 were also enacted.
MCL 777.16d
Each bill would take effect 90 days after the date it is enacted.
4
Note: Offenses designated Class G typically have a maximum sentence of around two years. It also seems unusual
for a felony with a prior conviction (and longer maximum prison term) to have a lower offense class than the same
felony without prior convictions (and a shorter maximum), as would be the case here (i.e., Class G versus Class F).
House Fiscal Agency HBs 4917 (H-2) and 4918 (H-1) as reported Page 2 of 4
BRIEF DISCUSSION:
According to committee testimony, assaults on transit workers have increased alarmingly in
recent years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. While aggressive
passenger behavior on airplanes and in airports has received some media attention, bus drivers
and train conductors, as well as other transit employees such as ticketing agents and engineers,
have also increasingly been assaulted, had weapons pulled on them, and been spat upon, while
simply trying to do their jobs. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has found that the
number of transit worker assaults increased by 121% from 2008 to 2021, and that even that
data “may significantly underestimate the true number and rate of assaults on transit workers”
because of reporting requirement thresholds. 5 In many cases, what has perhaps been most
troubling to affected workers is that their assailants face no consequences for their violent
behavior. Many simply board a later bus or train as though nothing happened, leaving the
employees having to constantly look over their shoulders while trying to work.
The bills would increase penalties for assaulting a transit worker, doubling potential fines for
an initial assault and also increasing possible fines and prison sentences if the perpetrator has
any prior convictions for such an assault.
In committee testimony, it was noted that many health professionals are also experiencing an
increase in assaults over recent years. House Bills 4917 and 4918 would increase fines for
assault similarly to House Bills 4520 and 4521, which address assaults on health care workers
and volunteers. However, House Bills 4520 and 4521 do not include similar enhanced penalties
for those with prior convictions.
According to committee testimony, the bills as introduced mirrored recent legislation enacted
in Illinois and New Jersey to address the issue.
FISCAL IMPACT:
House Bill 4918 would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on the state and on local units of
government. The number of felony convictions that would result under provisions of the bill is
not known. An increase in felony convictions would result in increased costs related to state
prisons and state probation supervision. In fiscal year 2022, the average cost of prison
incarceration in a state facility was roughly $47,900 per prisoner, a figure that includes various
fixed administrative and operational costs. State costs for parole and felony probation
supervision averaged about $5,000 per supervised offender in the same year. Those costs are
financed with state general fund/general purpose revenue. The fiscal impact on local court
systems would depend on how provisions of the bill affected court caseloads and related
administrative costs. It is difficult to project the actual fiscal impact to courts due to variables
such as law enforcement practices, prosecutorial practices, judicial discretion, case types, and
complexity of cases. Any increase in penal fine revenue would increase funding for public and
county law libraries, which are the constitutionally designated recipients of those revenues.
5
https://www.transit.dot.gov/sites/fta.dot.gov/files/2022-10/FTA-Special-Directive-22-14-to-the-Metropolitan-
Transportation-Authority.pdf
House Fiscal Agency HBs 4917 (H-2) and 4918 (H-1) as reported Page 3 of 4
 House Bill 4917 is a companion bill to HB 4918 and would amend sentencing guidelines to
include felonies that would be created by HB 4918. The bill would not have a direct fiscal
impact on the state or on local units of government.
POSITIONS:
Representatives of the following entities testified in support of the bills (10-10-23):
• SMART (International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation
Workers), Transportation Division
• BLET–IBT (Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen–International
Brotherhood of Teamsters)
The following entities indicated support for the bills:
• Amalgamated Transit Union (10-10-23)
• Railroads Association (10-24-23)
• Michigan Public Transit Association (10-24-23)
• AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Division (10-10-23)
The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) indicated opposition to the bills. (10-24-24)
Legislative Analyst: Rick Yuille
Fiscal Analyst: Robin Risko
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their
deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
House Fiscal Agency HBs 4917 (H-2) and 4918 (H-1) as reported Page 4 of 4


Statutes affected:
Substitute (H-2): 777.16
Substitute (S-1): 777.16
House Introduced Bill: 777.16
As Passed by the House: 777.16
As Passed by the Senate: 777.16