Inside 208

Two bills designed to severely limit the use of judgement levies used by some municipalities to address costly court decisions have been scheduled for a committee hearing this week in the Senate Local Government committee. Senate Bills 630 and 631 would amend the Revised Judicature Act and the General Property...

The twelfth annual Michigan Entrepreneurship Score Card – 2016 Edition was released this week and reports continued positive growth in the state’s entrepreneurial economy. The Entrepreneurial Change Index which measures the direction and momentum of growth ranks Michigan 12 out of the 50 states, up from 42 ten years ago. Officials from...

Michigan’s Transportation Asset Management Council recently made three important announcements. The Transportation Asset Management Council released a memorandum for 2016 data collection of Paved Non-Federal Aid Eligible (PNFA) Roads and Streets. The memorandum can be found at the following link. Memo_TAMC Reimbursement PNFA TAMC has  hired a new coordinator, Roger...

Governor Snyder released his budget recommendation for the upcoming Fiscal Year (2016-17) and as expected spent much of his focus on infrastructure and education.  His narrative for the nearly $55 billion spending plan centered on the Flint water crisis and proposals for Detroit Public Schools, as well as the first...

One of the numerous bills that have been introduced in recent weeks to “fix” the infamous SB 571/PA 269 was reported from House committee this afternoon despite opposition from local government organizations, including the MML.  House Bill 5219 was amended in the committee with an H-1 substitute and was sent to the...

The Michigan Senate unanimously passed a ten year extension to the Obsolete Property Rehabilitation Act this morning.  Introduced in December, on the heels of passage of the extension to the Commercial Rehabilitation Act, Senate Bill 673 was supported by the League in committee last week and quickly moved to the...

As expected, Governor Snyder devoted much of his 2016 State of the State speech this evening to the water crisis in Flint.  Within the speech, he did also focus on the Detroit Public Schools reform efforts he is pushing and broadened the conversation about lead pipe contamination within the city...

The Michigan Municipal League is leading a coalition of organizations in continued opposition to the campaign finance bill SB 571, which Governor Snyder signed January 6, and is now known as PA 269. As part of this opposition, the League is asking members to reach out to their state Representatives...

Throughout the week, communities across Michigan have been voicing their opposition to the last second inclusion of language to Senate Bill 571 that would ban communication with voters on local ballot questions within 60 days of an election.  This change happened in the waning moments of the legislative session for...

Having Governor Snyder sign a long-term road funding package in November following the defeat of Proposal 1 back in May was certainly one of the top news stories out of Lansing this year. But there were many other noteworthy accomplishments in 2015 by the Michigan Municipal League’s advocacy staff in...