LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A bill to protect grieving farm families from state fines is growing in Lansing again after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed similar legislation in 2022.
An “obscure state requirement.”
State Rep. Jerry Neyer (R-Shepherd) supports House Bill 4017. The bill would reduce penalties imposed on family farms that fail to report a workplace death of an immediate family member within the required eight-hour window. Rep. Neyer said the bill helps farm families from being hit with an “obscure state requirement” while in the throes of grief.
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“If my brother, father, or child were to – God forbid – die in a tragic accident, my first response would be caring for the people I love, not filing paperwork with the state,” Neyer said.
The MIOSHA standard.
The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) requires employers to report any employee workplace death within eight hours. Rep. Neyer said this strict code directly impacted the Eisenmann family of Lenawee County. The co-owner of their family farm, Keith Eisenmann, died in 2019 after falling through a barn roof. His family did not file the paperwork within the eight-hour window, and the state slapped the family with a more than $12,000 fine.
“The insensitivity in how the state treated the Eisenmann family is inexcusable,” Neyer said. “They were right to grieve.” He said state officials “weaponized” State officials should’ve extended a helping hand in their time of need. Instead, they weaponized their department to punish the grieving family.”
Proposed penalty reduction.
Under Neyer’s legislation, family farms will still have to report workplace fatalities for immediate relatives, but the fines for failing to properly do so within the eight-hour window will be substantially reduced; penalties will be reduced by 80 percent if the family farm does not have any prior violations.
The bill has moved to the House Agriculture Committee.
