Inside 208

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue just announced that Michigan is the first state to be approved to operate Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT), a new program authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Act (FFCRA), signed by President Trump, which provides assistance to families of children eligible for free or...

There’s an excellent column in The Hill Monday about the importance of spending time now to think about how communities like Michigan are going to recover economically in the days, weeks and months following the COVID-19 pandemic. The piece was co-authored by John Austin, a Michigan resident and a friend [...]

The Department of Justice is has opened applications for the FY2020 Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Program. The Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding (CESF) Program will provide funding to local law enforcement to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus. Projects and purchases include, but are not limited to: Overtime Equipment (including [...]

In accordance with Gov. Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services' recommendations to help prevent the spread of COVID-19,  the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy have rescheduled the Great Lakes Water Infrastructure Conference to December 1-3, 2020 at the Novi Suburban Showcase Collection in Novi,...

Governor Whitmer has signed Executive Order 2020-38 which relaxes requirements for responding to FOIA requests made by mail or fax during the COVID-19 emergency. This action will protect workers who handle FOIA requests by allowing public bodies to defer portions of requests that would require workers to report to work [...]

Following the lead of our partners at the National League of Cities, MML staff have been reaching out to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and members of Michigan's congressional delegation requesting flexibility as Treasury develops guidance on "necessary expenditures" related to the authorized use of Coronavirus Relief Funds within the recently passed...

The Bureau of Elections released the following information last night for local units of government to request reimbursements for their costs related to the March Presidential Primary election.  The Governor recently signed Senate Bill 151, a supplemental appropriation that included $14 million to cover the costs of the March election. ...

In response to Michigan Municipal League webinars (here and here) on communities conducting remote-access meetings, several of our members have decided to use the Zoom platform. We wanted to share some information regarding the "zoombombing" that's been happening. Zoombombing is when someone (who may or may not be a resident...

(Click here to fill out the survey) As our communities take steps to address issues that have rose due to the coronavirus there are likely unexpected costs and budget impacts. Though our advocacy work at the State and Federal level the Michigan Municipal League has been diligent in our efforts [...]

The Michigan Department of Treasury sent the following reminder yesterday to local units of government that may need to request filing extensions for any upcoming F-65 audit or other fiscal year-end filing requirements… The Uniform Budgeting and Accounting Act (Public Act 2 of 1968 ) and the Revised Municipal Finance [...]