Inside 208

The House Regulatory Reform Committee met last week to discuss HB 5011, which would allow for temporary liquor licenses while permanent licenses are being considered.  Several  folks testified in support of this legislation as a way to allow businesses to operate while waiting for the sometimes-lengthy approvals.  Several people, though,...

The House and Senate General Government Committees both passed their initial budgets out of committee, and both cut the funding dedicated for local economic development that was supposed to replace the former Brownfield and Historic and MEGA credits. Governor Rick Snyder proposed to allocate $100 million in his budget. The Senate...

For the ninth time in two years, the Congress and Senate have passed another extension to the current transportation authorization act. This latest extension, which came pretty close to the March 31st deadline, will last until June 30th and comes on the heels of a longer, two year bi-partisan bill...

According to Senate Leadership, the Senate Finance Committee intends to introduce legislation to eliminate significant portions of the personal property tax immediately after they return from spring recess. We understand this legislation is molded after the Administration’s proposal to eliminate all manufacturing PPT and portions of commercial PPT over a several...

This morning the House Judiciary Committee passed a series of bills that seeks to regulate medical marijuana. House Bill 4834 would add additional information to the registry identification cards for patients and caregivers. It would require patient cards to have a photo ID, make the card valid for two years...

This morning, the House General Government Subcommittee on Appropriations passed out HB 5382, the budget bill which contains revenue sharing/EVIP for 2012-13. The Committee increased the funding for statutory revenue sharing/EVIP from the Governor’s proposal of $210 million to $220 million. In addition, they reduced the 3 year budget requirement as...

Roger Martin of Martin Waymire Advocacy talks about millage elections to Michigan Municipal League members.LANSING, Michigan – More than 30 municipal officials from throughout the state attended a Michigan Municipal League training session Thursday, March 29, 2012, about how to best seek tax increases from local voters to fund essential services,...

This afternoon, the Senate General Government subcommittee on Appropriations passed out SB 954, which contains the budget for statutory revenue sharing/EVIP for next years’ budget 2012-13. This is NOT to be confused with the existing language in place for the current budget year. The Senate retained the same funding levels...

After a few months of confusion for communities, and after significant pressing from the Michigan Municipal League and our member communities, the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) today published a bulletin that will once again clarify that League communities can receive one day liquor licenses! While locals had always been...

A message from the Michigan Municipal League’s Anthony Minghine: With the deadline for the third leg of the Economic Vitality Incentive Program rapidly approaching, we thought it important to provide an update on the multitude of questions that were posed to Treasury that arose during the League’s recent webinar. These questions are...