Inside 208

Both the House and Senate election committees took up bill packages last week that would allow residents to register to vote online. The legislation, supported by Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, would allow voters to register online at ExpressSOS.com. The system would authenticate identities by matching applicants with their driver’s [...]

WATCH the hearing live here TODAY (March 13, 2018) at 2:30 p.m.: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/ Michigan Municipal League CEO and Executive Director Dan Gilmartin will speak before Congress in Washington D.C. this week about infrastructure needs. We all know how ferociously bad Michigan’s roads are. Now Washington, D.C. is going to learn. Gilmartin has [...]

Across the country the telecommunications industry has been pursuing legislation to streamline the deployment of small cell technology. Small cells are low-powered antenna nodes that are installed to relieve congestion for wireless users. The term “small” refers to the footprint of the device but they typically are installed on their [...]

The Michigan Transportation Asset Management Council (TAMC) is requesting that local agencies complete the survey below regarding the Culvert Mapping Pilot Project, which is included in the State of Michigan 2018 budget. The budget includes $2 million for the inspection and inventory of culverts on the local road system. Participation [...]

The State has announced that low-income residents affected by the flooding that began in late February in lower Michigan may be eligible for emergency relief assistance through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. The State Emergency Relief program provides immediate help to individuals and families facing conditions of [...]

Senate Bill 393 was presented to the Governor yesterday. The legislation consolidates tax increment financing authorities, excluding BRAs, in to one act called the “Recodified Tax Increment Financing Act”. Each individual act was incorporated in to the legislation without change. In addition to combining the TIF authorities under one act, the legislation [...]

Yesterday the Legislature sent to the Governor the $175 million in leftover General Fund dollars from last year for state and local transportation departments as additional money to fix Michigan’s roads. Local road agencies will receive these funds in addition to their FY 2018 payments. The additional revenue should be [...]

Last night the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality held a public hearing on the proposed lead and copper rule.Comments were provided by about 30 individuals and organizations. Everyone who spoke will have their comments added to the public record. Here are some of the key highlights from the draft rule. [...]

On February 12th the president release his budget proposal for FY 2019. The proposal includes $3 trillion in domestic cuts over ten years, many of which Congress has already rejected twice. Together, these cuts represent a historic disinvestment from cities and local governments, including the elimination of or reductions to [...]

On February 12th the President released his plan to invest at least $1.5 trillion in infrastructure over the next 10 years. The plan includes no new revenue and instead would utilize $200 billion in existing federal fund to leverage over $1 billion in funds from state, local and private sources. [...]