Inside 208

During the late night final session day, the House of Represenatatives took up SB 334 which will allow four townships in Kent County to create Business Improvement Zones (which are currently limited to only cities and villages).  There was an effort to expand this to all townships, which was opposed [...]

In a surprising move, the Legislature took up and passed bills to amend the voter-initiatied Medical Marihuana law late last night. HB 4834 allows the Department of Community Health to contract with a private firm to handle the processing of medical marijuana registration cards, easing a backlog that has frustrated [...]

Speaker Boehner and the President had another meeting late last week, after a few days off and some intense rhetoric regarding their solutions on the fiscal cliff, the combination of the expiration of Bush-era tax credits and significant automatic budget cuts set to go into effect January 1. There have [...]

The Legislature has sent to the Governor SB 810 and SB 811. These bills require village elections to be in November instead of September. Specifically, SB 810 would amend the Michigan Election Law to require a village regular election to be held at the general November election, and eliminate a [...]

SB 713, which loosens the regulation for pawn resale shops, died in committee when session ended this week. This bill would have taken the regulation of this industry, which either unintentionally or intentionally deals in stolen property, out of the hands of local governments who are responsible for the health, [...]

The Legislature has sent to the Governor bills that will change the recall process. They took a package of bills and condensed them into two bills – HB 6060 and 6063. The bills will do the following: – change the maximum number of days to circulate recall petitions from 90 [...]

The Michigan House and Senate each passed new language that was substituted into SB 865. The bill would give communities in a financial emergency the option of (1) having a state-appointed emergency manager, (2) going into Chapter 9 bankruptcy, (3) mediation or (4) a consent agreement.  The Governor is expected [...]

The Legislature passed the final two pieces of the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) legislation for Metro Detroit in the marathon lame duck session.  SB 912 would exempt the RTA from local zoning. SB 967 would require communities to provide access to rights-of-way for the system. Governor Snyder is expected to [...]

The Legislature has sent to the Governor SB 59, which deals with concealed weapons in gun free zones. This legislation will allow concealed weapons in most areas that had previously been considered no-carry zones such as schools, day care centers and churches. The CCW holder would need additional training and [...]

The Legislature has passed and sent SB 1210 and SB 1328 to the Governor for his signature. These bills makes a number of changes to Brownfield Refinancing and NREPA Parts 147, 196, 201, and 213 . The League indicated support for this legislation. One of the major changes that it [...]