Michigan’s 100th Legislature officially started yesterday (Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019) and the Michigan Municipal League was there at the state Capitol amidst all the activity and excitement.

Our staff met with new lawmakers and we co-sponsored the 100th Legislature Opening Day Breakfast Reception.

There are a couple photos from yesterday in this blog post and you can check out additional images on the League’s Facebook page that show the League’s Jennifer Rigertink and Betsy DeRose greet legislators and members of their families.

The League also coordinated a photo shoot for an upcoming edition of our Review magazine with three new lawmakers who are all former local government officials – State Representatives Mark Huizenga, former Walker mayor; Padma Kuppa, former Troy city planning commission member, and Alex Garza, former Taylor city council president.

The three lawmakers were extremely nice as we even made them stand outside in front of the Capitol (without coats, hats or gloves) in bone-chilling temperatures and blustery snowfall. They didn’t complain once!!

Overall, it’s been a great start to the Legislative year with officials from both political parties calling for unity and working together to serve our state. The League hopes that our ongoing message about Michigan’s broken system for funding municipalities is heard and that it leads to lawmakers working with our member communities to make fixes. Learn more about this topic at savemicity.org.

For more details about the latest news in Lansing, read the League’s Inside 208 blog (here: /inside208/) and watch us on Facebook for Monday Morning Live, Jan. 21. You can checkout or most recent Monday Morning Live from Jan. 7 where we talk about the new legislature and administration by clicking here.

Matt Bach is director of communications for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at [email protected] and 734-669-6317.