Inside 208

This morning the House Tax Policy Committee heard testimony on Senate Bills 489 and 490, bills that are the first “fix” bills from the personal property tax (PPT) reform package that passed in December. The bills clarify the process for a businesses to claim exemptions under the legislation. The League [...]

This morning the Senate Reforms, Restructuring and Reinventing Committee unanimously reported Senate Bill 387, legislation that would amend the Worker’s Disability Compensation Act to include a reserve or auxiliary police officer as an employee of the State for purposes of the Act when he or she was performing duties in [...]

CALL MISS-DIG. Under the legislation passed today by the Senate Energy & Technology Committee a local unit of government faces penalties if they do not call the MISS-DIG system when beginning a project that involves digging. If a local unit does call MISS-DIG there is no liability. This afternoon the [...]

This morning the House took testimony on PA 295 of 2008, part of the 2008 energy package that specifically deals with energy efficiency and renewable energy.  The League was supportive of the 2008 package, and as a member of the Michigan Energy Michigan Jobs Coalition continues to support energy efficiency [...]

Category one to qualify for funding under the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP) is due today, October 1, 2013. Category one is accountability and transparency; i.e., dashboard and citizens guide. The dashboard template and F65 Citizen’s Guide are available on Treasury’s website. Category one is substantially similar to last year; [...]

This week the League will be in Washington DC to meet with Congressman Camp and Levin to discuss the critical nature of retaining the federal tax exemption on municipal bonds. Congressman Camp is the Chairman of the Powerful Ways and Means Committee and Congressman Levin is the ranking member, so [...]

Congress was unable to pass a Continuing Resolution to maintain existing funding levels for the federal government last night, putting a shutdown in place. It is not clear how long the shutdown will last, or even how specific the impacts will be in each state or each community. Last night [...]

With the help of the Michigan Municipal League the Governor signed three pieces of legislation that improve access and local control over the use of ORVs in Michigan. Senate Bill 50 would allow the DNR to create free ORV riding days. These would be similar to the free fishing weekends [...]

The Department of Environmental Quality announced the availability of grant applications for the fiscal year 2014 Scrap Tire Market Development Program and the Scrap Tire Cleanup Program. The Scrap Tire Market Development Program Grants are available to reimburse up to 50 percent of the cost of purchasing scrap tires to [...]

A bill that would severely cripple local rental inspection programs could see a hearing on Wednesday, October 2 at 3:00 pm in the Senate Local Government and Elections committee.  SB 313 (Senator Dave Robertson, R-Grand Blanc) makes multiple changes to the Michigan Housing Law. The legislation limits both registration fees and [...]