Over the past few weeks many members have received a letter from the Michigan Department of Transportation about complying with section 18j of Public Act 51 (MCL 247.668j). A copy of the letter can be found here. Act 51 Letter

The League became aware of this letter when a member brought it to our attention and it has come up multiple times since then. We have spoken with Lori Cole at MDOT and the Legislative Liaison for the department to make them aware of our concerns. Based on the conversation that we had with Lori, she understands there are some issues that need to be looked at and possibly corrected. She stated that it is not the departments intention to have the unintended consequence of withholding Act 51 road dollars because of the potential lack of clarity within the statute. Specifically I spoke with the department about clarifying the language about being in compliance with healthcare cost savings requirements and its interaction with PA 152, the creation of a webpage, and the need to better define transportation worker.

Our goal is to address these issues with the department to protect our Act 51 road dollars and not have our communities go through a similar process that they are already going through with EVIP. Providing that information to the State once should be enough and their departments should share it with each other. Very likely this will require further legislation to achieve these goals but it is an issue that we are engaged in and are pushing for action on in the near future.

John LaMacchia is a Legislative Associate for the League handling transportation and infrastructure issues. He can be reached at [email protected] or 517-908-0303.