Michigan State House

The Michigan House has passed legislation that would overhaul expungement laws to make it easier for hundreds of thousands of people to clear their criminal record.

Last November, voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of proposition 2, Voters Not Politicians. The ballot initiative was directed at curbing partisan gerrymandering, the process of lawmakers redrawing district lines that benefits a certain political party. Lawmakers redraw district lines after every census, which takes place every 10 years. However, Michigan's doing it a little bit differently this time. Instead, 13 randomly-selected residents from Michigan will be responsible for drawing those boundary lines.

It’s been more than two years since Brian Banks resigned from the state House to avoid going to the Big House.

State lawmakers are close to ending Michigan's status as one of the few states where 17-year-old offenders are automatically prosecuted as adults. The state Senate overwhelmingly approved bills Wednesday, a day after the House voted. The legislation is expected to soon go to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her likely signature.

The GOP's budget differences with the governor were laid bare Wednesday following Whitmer's veto of 147 items from the legislature's proposed budget. After cutting more than a billion dollars from the proposal, there's chatter in Lansing that that money could be sent back to taxpayers.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan Gov.