Michigan Senate continues to increase pressure on Secretary of State to address abysmal service to customers through branch offices; not buying excuses attributing backlog to “COVID-19.”

In an mLive post today titled “Senate-passed bills would require Secretary of State branches to provide services without appointment,” by Lauren Gibbons, actions were characterized as a “rebuke” to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and here “appointment-only system.

As initially introduced, Senate Bill 507, sponsored by Sen. Kevin Daley, R-Lum, would have required a minimum of 25 hours a week of in-person services without an appointment. The floor substitute that passed the chamber Thursday would up the ante, requiring ‘a minimum of 8 hours of in-person services, without the requirement of an appointment, on each day a secretary of state branch office is open for services.’

The Secretary of State would also be required to provide a detailed report to the Legislature about the department’s plans to reopen all Secretary of State branches to walk-in services, including how many staff will return to in-person work and how the department will prioritize people who have dealt with delays in obtaining essential documents ….