Inside 208

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has announced that $500 million in funding is now available under a fourth round of the TIGER Grant program. Funds will be used for surface transportation projects that have a significant impact on the nation, a metropolitan area, or region.  As in previous rounds,...

Tomorrow afternoon the Michigan Senate Judiciary Committee will be taking up HB 4589, a bill that reinstates the long-standing two-inch rule for sidewalk liability. This rule was reversed by the Michigan Supreme Court in 2009, and the Michigan Municipal League has been working on legislation to address this concern for...

The Michigan House of Representatives’ Oversight, Reform and Ethics Committee is taking testimony on a package of bills, 5023–5026, that increase penalties for municipal employees who strike. Michigan law prohibits public employees from striking, and in talking to our members we’ve determined this is not a problem municipalities in Michigan...

LANSING, Michigan – Six local government officials from throughout the state were recently named as the newest members of the Michigan Municipal League Board of Trustees. Selected to the Board on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012, were Battle Creek Mayor Susan Baldwin; Rogers City Mayor Pro Tem Debra Greene; Jackson Councilmember Daniel Greer;...

The Michigan Municipal League has major concerns with HB 5304, a bill to require local road agencies that receive less than $50,000 in 2012 would have their funds shifted to their respective counties starting in 2015. The legislation would affect 128 agencies. The League has already met with some legislators...

The Federal Emergency and Management Association (FEMA), is accepting grant applications for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Program (SAFER). The SAFER program provides funding to assist communities in hiring new firefighters, retaining existing ones, or rehiring those that have been recently released. The program guidance and application...

A Federal Appeals Court has upheld a 2009 FCC ruling that limits the time state and local governments have to consider cell tower siting applications. Ruling on a challenge brought by Arlington and San Antonio, Texas, in which the National League of Cities intervened, the U.S. Court of Appeals for...

As noted in previous posts, early 2012 is to be the time when the U.S. House and Senate move forward on authorization legislation for a new transportation funding bill.  That time has arrived, although given the sharp contrasts in the proposals, there are still plenty of skeptics out there as to whether...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has made public all grant allocations to cities and states for FY 2012 for the CDBG, HOME and grants under Community Planning and Development. Recall that Congress cut overall CDBG funding by nearly 12 percent and given the lack of agreement on how...

The latest results from local officials polled as part of the Michigan Public Policy Survey show a great deal of concern with the requirements surrounding the new Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP).  Recall that the EVIP replaced the former statutory revenue sharing program. This poll and other work by the...