Inside 208

This afternoon the House passed SB 1129, a bill allowing local units of government to bond for costs associated with switching from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC). In its current version the bill also allows for bonding for unfunded accrued liability for health care. This option is available...

This morning the House Local Government committee held a hearing on a new bill introduced last month would amend PA 54 of 2012, the law prohibiting retroactive wage increases, to exempt police officers and firefighters. HB 5780 seeks to undo one of last year’s important reforms by exempting those employees...

This afternoon the House Appropriations Committee reported two pension flexibility bills the League has been pushing: HB 5725 which amends the MERS statute to remove barriers to switching from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) and SB 1129 which allows for bonding for costs from switching from DB to...

Today in committee, the Michigan Municipal League and its members opposed HBs 5879 and 5895. These two bills dealing with FOIA were up in the Michigan House Oversight, Reform and Ethics committee for testimony only. Abigail Elias, Chief Assistant Attorney from Ann Arbor, Mike Fisher. Assistant City Attorney from Livonia and...

Please remember that all municipalities need to provide their Accountability and Transparency EVIP information to the State Department of Treasury by October 1st (Monday).  THIS INCLUDES MUNICIPALITIES THAT PROVIDED THIS INFORMATION LAST YEAR. Municipalites that do not provide this information will not qualify for the first pot of funding through...

From Secretary LaHood:  I am writing to ask you to participate in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s on-line survey on categorical exclusions. Your responses—and those of other key stakeholders—will give us valuable information as we consider whether to develop any new categorical exclusions from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)...

At the November 6, 2012 general election a number of ballot initiatives will be presented to Michigan voters. The Citizens Research Council (CRC) has issued a comprehensive review of Proposal 3, asking voters to amend the Michigan Constitution to require electric utilities to provide at least 25 percent of their...

The Michigan Department of Treasury released the new PA 152 (Public Employer Contributions to Medical Benefit Plans) hard cap amounts  on September 18th, 2012. These caps will apply to medical benefit plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2013.  This represents an increase of 3.5%. Click here for the document – http://www.michigan.gov/documents/treasury/CY2013PA152MedicalBenefitLimits9-18-12_398502_7.pdf ...

LANSING, Michigan – Several municipal attorneys were honored during the 2012 Michigan Association of Municipal Attorneys (MAMA) municipal law program in Lansing Oct. 20, 2012. The recipients of the numerous awards were: – William L. Steude Ethics and Civility in Local Government Award went to Ronald Keefe, Marquette city attorney....

Today, the Senate Economic Development Committee passed SBs 1291 and 1292.  These bills would provide for regulation of a new product on the market that allows any web access device to be used to remotely control security and other devices (heater/air conditioner, etc) in a home or business.  The main...