There are five key issues the Michigan Legislature likely will grapple with during the final dozen or so scheduled meeting days before the end of the year.

The Emergency Manager Law

Gov. Rick Snyder and fellow Republican lawmakers are keen on replacing the law rejected this month by voters that lets emergency managers take over struggling local governments and gives them sweeping powers.

But the challenge will be crafting something that helps turn around broke cities and school districts without running afoul of the voters' will.

Ideas abound, but Snyder and leaders of the GOP-controlled Legislature are loath to discuss them in detail.

A potential replacement of the former law known as Public Act 4 was drafted before the election, but it has yet to surface.

Right to Work

The majority of Michigan voters likewise had no interest in approving a ballot proposal that would have enshrined collective bargaining rights in the Michigan Constitution and ban right-to-work laws limiting unions' ability to collect fees from nonunion workers.

That provides an invitation for some Republican leaders to come forward with right-to-work legislation.

But this again represents a challenge: The issue typically finds favor with Republicans but it's politically dicey in a state with such long and strong ties to labor unions.

House Speaker Jase Bolger appears ready to put it on the table, but Snyder and Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville say it's not on their agenda.

Does "not on my agenda" mean not supporting or signing it?

That's a big unknown, perhaps even to them.

Blue Cross

The company synonymous with health insurance in Michigan is aiming to make major changes to how it is governed and how it operates.

Likely invisible to customers, the proposed overhaul of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan nonetheless will require some heavy legislative lifting, by doing away with a law that gives the insurer's immunity from paying taxes in exchange for providing insurance coverage regardless of a customer's health status.

The company's rate-change requests would be reviewed the state insurance commissioner — as other insurers currently are — and no longer subject to an extra layer of scrutiny by the state attorney general.

Is the proposal a big deal? It depends on whom you ask.

Blue Cross and the governor say it's merely modernizing the insurer and bringing it line operationally with its competitors.

Detractors say it short-shrifts seniors and removes oversight from a company that controls 70 percent of the market.

Bottom line: The legislation passed the Senate with some critics' changes included and is being debated by the House, where GOP leaders want to see a version of it passed by year's end.

Medical Marijuana

The Senate could look at changes aimed at clarifying the voter-approved medical marijuana law.

One bill seeks to better define the type of doctor-patient relationship needed before medical marijuana use could be certified.

Another would let law enforcement officers obtain medical marijuana patient information.