All League members are welcome to attend a virtual news conference the Michigan Municipal League is having this Monday. At the press event, municipal and business leaders will call on the state Legislature to adopt a “Community Stabilization Plan” in response to COVID-19.

To learn more about this plan check out a fact sheet here and help the League by sending the Legislature a letter in support of this plan by going here.

Here are the news conference details:

WHAT: As members of the Michigan Municipal League (MML), we are inviting you to join us for a special press event. Local government and business leaders from across the state will hold a virtual news conference to urge Michigan lawmakers to adopt a Community Stabilization Plan that will help cities and local governments continue to operate and provides services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

WHO:

• Rosalyn Bliss, Mayor of Grand Rapids, chair of Urban Core Mayors
• Dan Dimitroff, Partner, RDS Management
• Pauline Repp, Mayor of Port Huron, President of Michigan Association of Mayors
• Eric Scorsone, Michigan State University Center for Local Government Finance and Policy
• William Wild, Mayor of Westland and MML Board President

WHY: 

• Government operations needed to continue business activity like permit and zoning approvals and other crucial services could grind to a halt without allowing remote meetings to proceed as permitted under recent changes to the Open Meetings Act set to expire at the end of this year.
• The state’s 24 income tax communities are experiencing significant revenue loss due to the change in many employees’ work location forced by the pandemic.
• In addition, all local governments are struggling with revenue declines due to the interaction between Proposal A and the Headlee Amendment. Those declines are projected to accelerate with looming reductions in commercial property value.

Unless the Michigan legislature acts quickly to pass a Community Stabilization Plan addressing these three issues, local government bodies will be unable to conduct business, and revenue losses will result in drastic cuts to public safety, infrastructure, parks and other vital services essential to promoting quality of life as well as talent attraction and retention, compounding the health and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

WHERE: The news conference will take place via Zoom. It’s free, but you do need to preregister by going here.

WHEN: 10 a.m., Monday, Nov. 30, 2020

For more information contact the League’s Matt Bach, 810-874-1073; [email protected].