Inside 208

Yesterday afternoon the Senate passed Senate Bills 1038, 1039 and 1040, bills that make changes to the tax appeal process and the Michigan Tax Tribunal Act. The League has a lot of concerns regarding the way the Tax Tribunal has been valuing property and the losses sustained by our local [...]

This morning, the House Local Government Committee reported House Bill 5560, legislation that would phase out the newspaper publication requirement for public notices and transition the notices to the Internet. HB 5560 creates a tiered system for legal notices and phases them out over time. The legislation is vague, but [...]

In a huge vote, the Michigan Senate has just passed HB 5477, a bill that would phase in a new percentage-based gasoline tax that will result in an additional $1.2 billion for transportation funding by 2019. Revenue from other bills in this package result in transportation increases as high as [...]

The legislature is one again considering cancer presumption legislation. After being vetoed by Governor Engler in 1998 cancer presumption has returned in some form each legislative session. This morning the House Insurance Committee heard testimony Senate Bill 211, a bill that creates a cancer presumption for firefighters. It is presumed [...]

This morning the House Financial Liabilities Reform Committee heard testimony on House Bill 5650, legislation that would amend the Revised Municipal Finance Act to provide for a statutory first lien on all taxes subject to an unlimited tax pledge for a municipal security authorized or issued before December 23, 1978, [...]

This morning the House Financial Liability Reform Committee heard testimony on House Bill 5279, legislation that would allow communities with an A credit rating to bond for pension and other post employment benefit (OPEB) costs if that community obtains bond insurance. In 2012 the Governor signed Senate Bill 1129, legislation [...]

Discussions are currently taking place in Lansing on finding a way to raise new revenue for Michigan’s transportation network during the current lame duck legislative session. House Bill 5477 is a key piece to this new revenue. It would switch the current cents per gallon tax on fuel to a percentage based [...]

This morning the House Tax Policy Committee reported House Bill 5924, legislation that would require the Department of Treasury to withhold local income tax from a lottery winner at the time the winnings are claimed. While a lottery winner is required to pay local income tax (if applicable), it can [...]

The Michigan Recycling Coalition will be hosting their annual Fall Into Recycling event on December 2, 2014 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Okemos Conference Center. This year’s event – “Building the Coalition to Advance Recycling: Time to think BIG and Small about Recycling” – is an interactive discussion designed [...]

The Environmental Protection Agency is having an open comment period until December 22nd, to allow individuals and organizations to respond to proposed new regulation of discharge of dental amalgam into publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) as part of the Clean Water Act. The regulation would classify dentists as an “industrial [...]