Inside 208

Recently, several articles have appeared that reference a “glitch” in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), in which communities with more than 50 employees will be forced to provide coverage for volunteer firefighters. Since this came about, Treasury and the IRS have reviewed the information and just released a statement, saying they [...]

The House Oversight committee passed out HB 4001, the bill making many changes to FOIA. The substitute that was adopted can be viewed here: HB 4001 H-2.  While the substitute has improved from the introduced version, the League still has concerns and is opposed to this legislation.  The League along with [...]

A bill to allow local communities to enter into written agreements with other local governmental units for election activities passed the House Ethics and Election Committee.  HB 4878 would allow a city or township clerk to enter into a written contract with the county or another city or township to [...]

You are invited to join President Barack Obama and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for a conference call with state and local elected officials on Wednesday, September 25, at 2:30 pm EDT to discuss the October launch of the Health Insurance Marketplace. The White House encourages [...]

The US Department of Health and Human Services has just released a toolkit for local governments to understand and implement the Affordable Care Act. The toolkit includes an overview of the Affordable Care Act, a sample outreach and enrollment plan that you can tailor for your community, frequently asked questions [...]

Michigan Municipal League staff members met with key state lawmakers today in Lansing about the League’s new proactive legislative agenda, called the Partnership for Place. You can check out the agenda here. The League is hosting three free webinars for League members about the Partnership for Place agenda 10-11 a.m. [...]

Yesterday the Senate Finance Committee considered two bills that would create tax exemptions for disabled veterans. Senate Bill 104 would allow a community to give a tax exemption to a qualified disabled veteran. This is an option for a community and not a mandate. The committee also considered Senate Bill [...]

LANSING, Michigan – A report saying the state of Michigan has nearly $400 million has the Michigan Municipal League requesting that the state use some of that surplus to restore massive cuts made to local revenue sharing. A consensus report released today (May 15, 2013) by state economists shows that revenues [...]

This afternoon the House Elections and Ethics Committee consideredHB 4477, legislation that would allow an elector to take a photo of him or herself at a polling place. The legislation is opposed by the Secretary of State, and many clerks have concern about such a policy violating voter privacy. In [...]

This afternoon the Michigan Competitiveness Committee heard testimony on House Bill 4182, a bill that would give an income tax credit to students who graduate with a Bachelors degree from a Michigan college if that individual lives and works in Michigan following graduation. The League is supportive of this legislation [...]