Inside 208

Althought the House and Obama administration have each put forward their vision of the federal budget for fiscal year 2013, no one expects much to happen until after the November election. This of course means election year politics will play a heavy hand in what the presumptive Republican nominee, Governor Romney,...

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder talks Thursday, April 12, 2012, with Michigan mayors at the Michigan Municipal League’s Lansing office. View more photos in this set on flickr.LANSING, Michigan – More than 20 mayors and local officials from cities around Michigan met at the League’s Capitol Office as part of a...

Congress is on their spring recess during the next two weeks, giving local officials a perfect opportunity to speak with them of issues of importance such as transportation and the 2013 budget. As you do so, please talk to them about the need for a longer term transportation funding bill...

As quickly as it was introduced, Republicans in Congress have passed their blueprint for the 2013 fiscal year. By a vote of 228-191, with no Democrats supporting and ten House Republicans also voting no, the proposal now goes on to the Senate where no resolve is expected until after the...

On March 28, Zeeland and Tecumseh had transportation projects selected for grant funding through the Transportation Economic Development Fund Category A grant program. The projects approved with Category A grant funding represent public investments of $1,683,814 supporting private industry development of over $108 million. Attached are the lists that include a...

The House Regulatory Reform Committee met last week to discuss HB 5011, which would allow for temporary liquor licenses while permanent licenses are being considered.  Several  folks testified in support of this legislation as a way to allow businesses to operate while waiting for the sometimes-lengthy approvals.  Several people, though,...

The House and Senate General Government Committees both passed their initial budgets out of committee, and both cut the funding dedicated for local economic development that was supposed to replace the former Brownfield and Historic and MEGA credits. Governor Rick Snyder proposed to allocate $100 million in his budget. The Senate...

For the ninth time in two years, the Congress and Senate have passed another extension to the current transportation authorization act. This latest extension, which came pretty close to the March 31st deadline, will last until June 30th and comes on the heels of a longer, two year bi-partisan bill...

According to Senate Leadership, the Senate Finance Committee intends to introduce legislation to eliminate significant portions of the personal property tax immediately after they return from spring recess. We understand this legislation is molded after the Administration’s proposal to eliminate all manufacturing PPT and portions of commercial PPT over a several...

This morning the House Judiciary Committee passed a series of bills that seeks to regulate medical marijuana. House Bill 4834 would add additional information to the registry identification cards for patients and caregivers. It would require patient cards to have a photo ID, make the card valid for two years...