Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Legislative Analysis
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SEXUALLY EXPLICIT VISUAL MATERIAL
                                                                                        http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
OF A VULNERABLE ADULT
                                                                                        Analysis available at
House Bill 4159 (H-1) as referred to second committee                                   http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Sponsor: Rep. Padma Kuppa
House Bill 4160 (H-1) as referred to second committee
Sponsor: Rep. Julie Calley
1st Committee: Families, Children and Seniors
2nd Committee: Judiciary
Complete to 7-13-21
SUMMARY:
         House Bills 4159 and 4160 would each add a new section to the Michigan Penal Code to
         prohibit certain conduct concerning sexually explicit visual material of a vulnerable adult.
         HB 4159 would add substantive provisions, and HB 4160 would define terms used in those
         provisions.
         Specifically, the bills would prohibit a person from intentionally and knowingly threatening,
         commanding, forcing, coercing, or exploiting the vulnerability of a vulnerable adult to cause
         the vulnerable adult to provide him or her, or any other person, with sexually explicit visual
         material of the vulnerable adult. A violation would be a misdemeanor punishable by
         imprisonment for up to 93 days or a fine of up to $500, or both.
                  Vulnerable adult would mean any of the following:
                     • A person 18 years of age or older who, because of age, developmental
                        disability, mental illness, or physical disability, requires supervision or
                        personal care or lacks the personal and social skills required to live
                        independently.
                     • A person 18 years of age or older who is unable to protect himself or herself
                        form abuse, neglect, or exploitation because of a mental or physical impairment
                        or advanced age and who is suspected of being abused, neglected, or exploited.1
                     • A child who is placed in an adult foster care family home or an adult foster care
                        small group home under section 5(6) or (8) of the child care licensing act (1973
                        PA 116).2
                  Sexually explicit visual material would mean a photograph or video that depicts nudity
                  (the display of a person’s genitalia or anus or a woman’s nipples or areola), erotic
                  fondling, sexual intercourse, or sadomasochistic abuse.
1
  For the definitions of “abuse,” “neglect,” and “exploitation” that pertain to this provision, see MCL 400.11:
https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-400-11.pdf
2
  See https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-722-115.pdf
House Fiscal Agency                                                                                        Page 1 of 2
        Each bill would take effect 90 days after its enactment. The bills are tie-barred to one another,
        which means that neither could take effect unless both were enacted.
        Proposed MCL 750.145h (HB 4159) and 750.145i (HB 4160)
BACKGROUND:
        Taken together, the bills as substituted and referred are identical to the H-2 substitute for HB
        4076 of the 2019-20 legislative session, as that bill was referred from the House Families,
        Children and Seniors committee to the House Judiciary committee.
FISCAL IMPACT:
        House Bills 4159 and 4160 would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on the state and on local
        units of government. The number of convictions that would result under provisions of the bills
        is not known. New misdemeanor convictions would increase costs related to county jails and/or
        local misdemeanor probation supervision. Costs of local incarceration in county jails and local
        misdemeanor probation supervision, and how those costs are financed, vary by jurisdiction.
        The fiscal impact on local court systems would depend on how provisions of the bills affected
        caseloads and related administrative costs. Increased costs could be offset, to some degree,
        depending on the amount of additional court-imposed fee revenue generated. Any increase in
        penal fine revenue would increase funding for local public libraries, which are the
        constitutionally designated recipients of those revenues.
POSITIONS:
        Representatives of the following entities testified in support of the bills (3-16-21):
           • Office of the Troy City Attorney
           • Troy Police Department
           • Troy School District
        The following entities indicated support for the bills:
           • Michigan State Police (4-20-21)
           • Michigan Poverty Law Program (4-20-21)
           • Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence (4-20-21)
           • The Arc Michigan (3-16-21)
           • Michigan Family Forum (3-16-21)
           • Michigan Catholic Conference (3-16-21)
        The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan indicated opposition to the bills. (3-16-21)
                                                            Legislative Analyst: E. Best
                                                                 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 4159 (H-1) and 4160 (H-1) as referred from Families   Page 2 of 2
Statutes affected: 
House Introduced Bill: 750.1, 750.568