Podcast 83

Podcast 83 is a regular look at the news, stories and trends related to Michigan’s 83 counties from Keweenaw to Monroe, Chippewa to Berrien.

Hosted by MAC Executive Director Stephan Currie, the podcast features:

• Regular reports from MAC staff on legislative activities
• Updates and opportunities through MAC services
• Newsmaker interviews
• Happenings from across Michigan’s 83 counties

See Podcast 83 on MAC’s YouTube channel.

Episodes

NEW!: Episode 101 – Released on 1/28/25
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth and Legan Rose of MAC
Topics: Clarity remains in limited supply under the Capitol Dome in Lansing in early 2025, MAC’s Podcast 83 team reports in a new episode this week.

While there was important action on a key legislative priority for MAC in the Michigan House of Representatives last week, that chamber has still not finished work on routine organizational issues that occur at the beginning of a new term.

“What have we heard about committee assignments at this point or not heard in some cases?” asked host Stephan Currie.

“I think we’ve heard less than we would like to hear,” replied Deena Bosworth. “The House, every two years, has to redo all of its committee assignments. They choose who’s going to be the chair of those committees and who’s going to be serving on them. … So, we’re waiting on Speaker Matt Hall to make announcements for all of the committees. … He’s had a couple of press conferences, made some announcements, which we’re happy about. You’ve got Rep. Ann Bollin out of Livingston County to chair the House Appropriations Committee. The minority vice chair on that (committee) is going to be Rep. Alabas Farhat from Wayne County, whom we’ve worked with quite a bit in the past as well. And luckily for us, we have Sarah Lightner, former county commissioner of Jackson County, who is going to chair the House Judiciary Committee. …

“In most sessions, there’s a lot of committees have announced at this point. So far, they’ve just been trickling in a little bit kind of one a week,” Bosworth said, though she added she expected much more action on committees this week.

Where the House has been more definitive, Bosworth said, is on much-needed changes to Michigan law on the minimum wage and sick time rules. A bipartisan majority advanced House Bills 4001-02 to the Senate, as MAC and others wanted.

However, “What the Senate plans to do with it? We’re not quite sure,” Bosworth said. “The Senate has their own version, amending the earned sick time act and the minimum wage, which is not necessarily as business friendly. It’s a little more labor friendly than the House version. I think they’re going to meet somewhere in the middle. Now, are they going to get this done prior to the Feb. 21 deadline, when everything goes into effect? Or not? That remains to be seen.”

Special Episode on Open Meetings Act – Released 1/22/25
Host: Stephan Currie
Guest: Matt Nordfjord of CST Municipal Law
Topic: A new special episode of Podcast 83 features an expert on the Michigan Open Meetings Act (OMA) and the mistakes that county boards so often make in trying to comply with it.

Matt Nordfjord, managing partner of the firm of CST Municipal Law, recently led briefings on the OMA at MAC’s New Commissioner School on the trends he has seen in county compliance.

“One of the big takeaways I got from that is that we seem to have some additional education that would be warranted here on what is a public body subject to the Open Meetings Act,” Nordfjord told host Stephan Currie. “There’s been a couple of (court) cases within the last year that have to do with whether a committee, a subcommittee, a work group or even an individual meets the definition of a public body.”

Nor is this a new issue, Nordfjord said. “I was looking back through my notes since 1998 and there was a case that talked about this. And when a committee shifts from being purely advisory …  there’s a three-step process. Step 1: It doesn’t matter what you’re calling it. … question is, is it a public body? And what we look to there is, did the Board of Commissioners delegate a governmental function to that individual or entity that they otherwise would be responsible for?”

In the end, Nordfjord said, a county’s wisest course is, if necessary, repeat the actions of subcommittees in a full board meeting in order to comply with OMA.

“You know, that’s one of the remedies for violations of the Open Meetings Act is re-enactment. So, it still may work functionally and be more efficient to have that entire discussion, even if you’ve had it behind closed doors first, again in the open session, so that you don’t have to deal with a potential challenge from an aggrieved party.”

Additional detail on these topics will appear in the February 2025 edition of Michigan Counties, MAC’s bimonthly magazine. The magazine is mailed directly to all county commissioners across Michigan.

NOTE: MAC emphasizes that this discussion does not constitute legal advice. Any member seeking such guidance can contact Nordfjord through the firm’s offices at 517-372-9000.

Episode 100 – Released 1/14/25
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: Traditions are being broken right and left at the State Capitol in 2025 and it’s unclear how counties will fare from the results, MAC’s Podcast 83 Team reports in its newest episode.

“In the incoming term, there will not be a house Local Government Committee, which is something to my understanding that hasn’t been done before,” explained Samantha Gibson. “Typically, most of our issues do go through the house Local Government Committee. Obviously, you know, we spend a lot of time in judiciary and criminal justice and transportation and whatnot, but the house Local Government Committee has been a long-standing platform for local governments to use in the House, so it’ll be different this term kind of running around all over the place to all these different committees.”

“I’m more than a little bit concerned,” added Deena Bosworth. “There are several issues that always went through the Local Government Committee that don’t really belong in some of the other policy committees. If you take issues like Open Meetings Act or zoning issues, local control issues are important. And we’ve seen Local Government Committee members who usually have local government background, and they understand the plight that local governments go through.”

New House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Kalamazoo) also has charted a new path on approved legislation from 2024, so far refusing to send over bills for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s signature to make them law. Among the stalled measures is House Bill 6058, which alters what counties have to do on employee health insurance.

“We were not happy with how it was drafted, how it went through the process and how it ultimately ended up,” Bosworth said. “The problem is that it doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense.

“I guess we’ll wait and see on that,” Bosworth added. “See what the new speaker does with those bills, if he’s compelled to, at some point, present them to the governor, and we’ll see what the governor does, right? Like I said, I’ve never seen this before, but it’s fun to watch a lot of things we haven’t seen before.”

Episode 99 – Released 12/23/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: In the final Podcast 83 episode of 2024, the MAC team recaps what the legislature was able to get done and what legislation died during lame duck or as some are calling it, blame duck.

Legislation that passed in the senate, that MAC was supportive of was HB 5695, which would require MDHHS to enroll the State of Michigan in the Federal Ground Emergency Medical Transportation (GEMT) reimbursement program.

Legislation that died during lame duck was the state wide septic code legislation died on the house floor. HB 5431, or Michigan’s Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act (WICA), also died on the senate floor. SB 1167 and HB 4688, which would have made minimum staffing levels a subject of collective bargaining for sheriff’s deputies, died on the House floor.

HB 6058, which would have amended the Public Employer Healthcare Contribution Act, increases the hard-cap limit on employer contributions to employee health insurance and adjusting cost-sharing provisions for employers and employees. Public employers opting for the 80/20 cost-sharing model are required to pay a minimum of 80% of healthcare costs, rather than the current cap of 80%. Despite MAC opposing throughout the process, it passed in the Senate but as Deena explains, “there is a fundamental flaw in it…the inflationary mechanism that is tied to the hard cap doesn’t make any sense, the department is not going to be able to administer it. The Governor might not sign it because it is fundamentally flawed.”

Despite intensive lobbying efforts, the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund bills, HB 4274 and HB 4275, failed to pass the Senate. These bills, championed by the Michigan Association of Counties (MAC), the Michigan Municipal League (MML) and the Michigan Townships Association (MTA) sought to secure consistent funding for local governments.

Episode 98 – Released 12/17/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Samantha Gibson and Madeline Fata of MAC
Topics: MAC’s Podcast 83 team took a moment Monday during a chaotic lame duck legislative session to review the state of play of county issues heading in Lansing in the final days of 2024.

“In order to get bills through the legislative process, they have to be in each legislative chamber for five days,” said Deena Bosworth. “We saw last week the Senate they started at 10 o’clock on Thursday morning, and they adjourned sometime around 5:30 a.m. on Friday. And they did that so that they could pass out all their ‘first house’ bills, so the Senate bills … would be in the House for five days before the House could act on them. … We think legislative session is going to be done on the 18th, or on the 19^th. They needed to get those across to the (other) chamber. The House was in on Friday morning. They started at 9 a.m. and adjourned sometime around 10:30 p.m. just to try and move all their bills over (to the other chamber). That’s the fact of it. But wow, was it a whirlwind.”

On key issues, the MAC team reported:

Revenue Sharing Trust Fund: Bipartisan legislation is still stuck in a Senate committee, with both Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Kent) and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer showing no appetite to help extract it. On Dec. 16, MAC and others sent a letter to every senator reiterating the need for this reform. (Contact your senator and tell them to back House Bills 4274-75 today!)

Minimum Staffing: Senate Bill 1167 is now in the House and, though amended, still presents a direct threat to county finances. “I do want to stress the importance to our membership that you talk to your legislators, particularly those of you that have House Democrats as your representatives, talk to them and let them know how detrimental Senate Bill 1167 will be to you all,” said Samantha Gibson.

Statewide Septic Code: “There was a new draft of the statewide septic code brought before the Senate Natural Resources Committee and this version is significantly better than any version we’ve seen to date. It is extremely watered down,” explained Madeline Fata.

County Apportionment: Noting again that MAC was not consulted by the sponsor (Rep. Phil Skaggs, D-Kent) prior to filing the legislation to revamp commissioner districts, Deena Bosworth said, “We’re trying to get some experts to explain to us what that’s going to look like or how that process would work.”

Episode 97 – Released 12/10/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Samantha Gibson and Madeline Fata of MAC
Topics: MAC continues to press for revenue sharing reform as the legislative pace quickened in Lansing last week, the Podcast 83 Team reports in its most recent episode.

Revenue Sharing Trust Fund: Deena Bosworth discussed the success of a Dec. 3 press event that was the culmination of a letter campaign that MAC and other local groups spearheaded. “We delivered over 500 letters from municipal leaders across the state calling on the governor to push the Senate to move these Revenue Sharing Trust Fund bills and get them enacted,” Bosworth said.

She also thanked bill sponsors Reps. Mark Tisdel and Amos O’Neal for their support. “The press conference was pretty exciting, but yet still don’t have a commitment from the Senate to run them, nor word from the governor’s office as to whether or not she’s going to push to have those done.”

Septic code: Madeline Fata reported on her testimony in the Senate on flawed legislation to create a statewide septic code. “There was a consensus among everyone who spoke that day that they hope to see additional changes,” Fata said. “I don’t think anyone was fully supportive of every aspect of the legislation as they were running it through.

“So we have heard that there might be some really big changes coming to that legislation, possibly another hearing this week, most likely on Wednesday, is what we’re hearing. But haven’t seen the new language, but we’re hopeful that it’s getting to a much better place, a much more implementable place for counties,” she added.

Public Act 152 (health insurance regulations: “There’s about five bills in the House that completely repeal the act,” Bosworth said, “And then we’ve got House Bill 6058, which was up in House Labor Committee last week, which I testified against in that committee meeting.

“I think our position on that has been, you know, let’s not change the intent of the original legislation. Let’s make what they did work and tie it to an inflationary number that makes sense for everybody,” she explained.

What’s next in Lansing: “We’re hearing a couple of days this week that the Democrats may be on full steam in the House, and have, you know, the majority vote back,” Bosworth said. “I know one member was out recovering from surgery. Not sure what the case was with the others, but I think this week there’s the potential for being at full attendance for them, not guaranteed, mind you, because you never really know.”

Episode 96 – Released 11/26/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Samantha Gibson and Madeline Fata of MAC
Topics: The intersection of a huge new road funding plan and MAC’s work to create a dedicated Revenue Sharing Trust Fund is the focus of this week’s episode of Podcast 83.

“(On) Friday, future speaker of the House Matt Hall proposed a plan of $2.7 billion annually (for roads), and $1.8 billion would be coming from corporate income tax revenue, and then just shy of $1 billion would come from the sales tax on gas at the pump,” said Madeline Fata.

While the plan says that schools and others now getting that $1 billion from the sales tax would be held harmless, there are potentially damaging implications for MAC’s efforts on revenue sharing.

“If we got our Revenue Sharing Trust Fund through, (the $1 billion shift) could impact there somehow. But he has said that there will be a replacement mechanism there, but it’s kind of unclear at this stage what that reimbursement mechanism is,” Fata explained.

“Probably there needs to be another tax of some form, or potential cuts to General Fund are really the only two options, right?” asked host Stephan Currie.

“I could see an increase in the gas tax being that reimbursement mechanism, yeah, or they’d have to find $1 billion in the General Fund to shift around,” Fata replied.

But Deena Bosworth noted that shifting sales tax sums affects MAC’s plan to use a dedicated portion of the sales tax for revenue sharing.

“If we get those trust fund bills enacted that are based on a percentage of the state sales tax, they will go into their revenue sharing trust fund. So, if they switch the sales tax revenue from going to cities, villages, townships and schools and dedicate that to roads, then that lowers that pot of money available for our Revenue Sharing Trust Fund,” she explained.

“If they do that, we’re going to have to revisit the percentage and make sure that there’s a hold harmless provision for us as well,” Bosworth added.

And all such considerations must be made in a rapidly shrinking legislative calendar.

“We’re thinking there’s a 7 to 9 lame duck session days coming up in the next few weeks,” said Samantha Gibson. “But a lot of it, as we’ve said many times, is contingent on whether House Democrats can have their majority in Lansing. If they don’t show up, anything that happens will have to be bipartisan. Otherwise, not much will be getting done. So, it remains to be seen what kind of lame duck we’ll have.”

“Still, we are expecting a pretty active lame duck over the next three, four weeks here,” said Currie. “Everyone should stay close to their emails, phones. We may need help, as you see people back in district over the Thanksgiving holiday, make sure you bring up some of these issues that we’ve talked about week over week, because now’s when the rubber meets the road.”

Episode 95 – Released 11/19/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth and Madeline Fata of MAC
Topics: County leaders soon will be asked to engage in a letter-writing campaign to urge the passage of bills creating a dedicated Revenue Sharing Trust Fund, legislation for which has been bottled up in the Michigan Senate for months, MAC’s Deena Bosworth said in the latest episode of Podcast 83.

“The Revenue Sharing Trust Fund bills, just for a reminder for our members, are House Bills 4274-75. They passed out of the House last year by an overwhelming majority, 106-4, and they’ve been sitting in the Senate Finance Committee ever since. We have been trying and trying and trying to get these bills some movement,” Bosworth explained.

“We know that we have the votes in the Senate to support this and put it on the governor’s desk. The hold up is actually getting them up for a vote. … And the stumbling block that we’re hearing is that we need the governor to actually ask the Legislature to do this, to make it an item that she would like to see done in the lame duck session.

“So, our strategy at this point is we’re going to put together a letter, and we are going to ask all of our county commissioners, our affiliates, everyone to sign this letter and send it back to us. It will be a letter to the governor asking the governor to make this a priority and ask the Legislature to move these bills forward,” Bosworth added.

In other legislative news:

MAC derailed a House vote last week on “minimum staffing” legislation that would cause no end of problems for county members.

“As a reminder for everyone, that’s to mandate that minimum staffing be a subject of bargaining for Public Act 312 employees that was initially posted on the House floor agenda for a vote (last) Wednesday,” said Samantha Gibson. “We were able to get that taken off the agenda … on Wednesday, and then again on Thursday, so we were able to avoid a House vote on that. Hopefully, we can continue that into December, but that’s a difficult issue.”

A new attempt is being made to usurp local control over aggregate mining operations.

“The aggregate legislation was reintroduced with new sponsors,” said Madeline Fata. “And just to remind you all, it essentially preempts all local control, all zoning for sand and gravel mines, and it would put the permitting authority into the hands of (the state). … (W)hen the original bills were brought up for a hearing, it did not go so well. There was a lot of public pushback, a lot of local government pushback, even environmental pushback on it. So, we were kind of hopeful that the issue was dead, but it’s rearing its ugly head again.”

Episode 94 – Released 11/13/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth and Madeline Fata of MAC
Topics: Who will lead the Michigan House of Representatives was the focus of the newest episode of Podcast 83 this week.

With Republicans taking control with an apparent 58-52 majority in the House in 2025, Rep. Matt Hall (R-Kalamazoo) was chosen as the new speaker by the GOP Caucus last week. On the Democratic side, current Speaker Joe Tate (D-Wayne) is stepping out of leadership and Rep. Ranjeev Puri (D-Wayne) will be minority leader in 2025, MAC’s Deena Bosworth explained to Podcast 83 host Stephan Currie.

“What this means is the Republicans in the House and the Democrats in the Senate (which will start 2025 with a 19-18 edge in the 38-member chamber) are going to have to agree on some things if they plan on getting anything done,” Bosworth said.

Selection of new committee chairs in the House will occur in coming weeks, Bosworth added, likely finalizing in early January.

For the rest of the 2024 calendar, Madeline Fata said, “We were thinking nine or 12 (legislative) days. But the Senate has already knocked that down to eight or 11 days for themselves.”

Bosworth, however, said a “robust” lame-duck session is still in the offing, based on the number of major bills still in play and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s ongoing pursuit of major economic development policy changes.

To conclude the episode, Currie reported that Michigan will have at least 135 new county commissioners in 2025, a turnover rate consistent with the historical pattern.

Those newbies, plus their colleagues, Currie noted, are urged to participate in MAC’s New Commissioner School, co-hosted with MSU Extension. An introductory webinar is set for Nov. 14, so county leaders should register today using this link.

Episode 93 – Released 11/5/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: In a wide-ranging episode recorded the day before the historic 2024 General Election, MAC’s Podcast 83 team addressed questions related to commissioner pay and board elections and reviewed a new MAC advocacy initiative for 2025.

In the wake of MAC’s success in getting four-year commissioner terms adopted for this cycle, MAC has been fielding questions on two themes:

• What will change about how commissioner pay is set?
• What will be different about how boards elect chairs and vice chairs?

On pay, Deena Bosworth reported, “We consulted legal counsel and had them do some work on it. And the response was, compensation for county commissioners has to be determined prior to the start of the new term. So now that they have four-year terms, they have to adopt their compensation prior to the end of this year, so prior to Dec. 31 2024, so that they know what their compensation is for this next term.

“They can’t change their compensation or, you know, vote on new compensation in January after the take office, so whoever is on the board now needs to determine what that compensation level is going to be going forward for the next term.”

On chairs and vice chairs, Bosworth explained, “The legislation that was adopted creating four-year terms for county commissioners … was done as a certain section of law. The other (relevant) sections of law have not been amended. So, what that means is, just as your process is now, you have to vote for a chair for a two-year term, unless your board has a resolution where you where you adopt a chair for a one-year cycle, and then one year cycle for your vice chair. So that, again, has not changed. … So even if you’re there for four years, that chairmanship is still only a two-year term, or one-year depending on your particular board rules.”

In the second half of the episode, Samantha Gibson reviewed MAC’s “CountiesUnited” campaign to launch in 2025 and which was teased at the 2024 Annual Conference in September.

“What we’re looking to provide for you all is not only an opportunity to shape and advance public policy in Lansing that is to the benefit of county government, but also give you some cool personal benefits that you can enjoy,” Gibson said. “You’ll get political updates from MAC’s Governmental Affairs team. … You know, pollsters, political pundits, really cool, interesting stuff that you know, maybe it’s a little inside baseball, but if you’re nerdy and you’re policy wonks like we are, you might get interested in the politics behind all things.

Gibson noted other benefits, keyed to new membership tiers for donating to MAC’s political affairs, will include special merchandise and invites to MAC events for key legislators (the “County Caucus”).

And listen all the way to the end of the episode to get answers on two burning questions:

1. Who is the longest-serving county commissioner in Michigan?
2. What color were Steve Currie’s socks on Monday, Nov. 4?

Special on Elections – Released 10/22/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Adrian Hemond, CEO of Grassroots Midwest, and John Sellek, Chief Strategist/CEO, Harbor Strategic
Topic: With only a few short weeks before the election, in this new Podcast 83 episode, Adrian Hemond of Grassroots Midwest and John Selleck of Harbor Strategic provide insight into the upcoming elections. Hemond and Selleck focus on some key state House races, the open U.S. Senate seat, and a few U.S. House races, delving in to what potential outcomes could mean for Michigan.

Hemond gives an overview of what he believes are the five most crucial State House races in November, commenting “from my perspective, both sides have got plenty of seats that are in play this time.”

With the slim two-seat Democratic House Majority, Selleck adds to the discussion, “It’s an uphill battle for Democrats, and frankly the place we could end up that we have now started talking about is 55-55 (in the Michigan House).”

Special on Statewide Septic Code Legislation – Released 10/15/24

With legislative activity in Lansing still on a slow simmer, Health Officer with the Health Department of Northwest Michigan, Dan Thorell, talked with host Deena Bosworth and MAC’s Madeline Fata on the proposed statewide septic code legislation. In this new episode, Dan gives background on the legislation and discusses what House Bills 4479 and 4480, as well as Senate Bills 299 and 300, could mean for Michigan residents if passed during lame duck.

This legislation was introduced in the spring of 2023 and workgroups began in the fall of 2023, with many groups having concerns on the legislation. “The biggest issue we were confronting was really the evaluation component of inspecting existing systems, after they have already been installed, after they have been used for some time”, Dan said. “We’re using the number 1.4 million, and that number has been used for 15 years, but we have obviously installed more septic systems in that time.”

Dan provides some more background information on the evaluation component, as well as, some other concerns that were brought up in during workgroups and talks about the changes that have been made in the legislation to alleviate those concerns.

Special on Sick Time Ruling – Released 10/8/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topic: All Michigan counties are now on the clock, as a recent Michigan Supreme Court ruling requires them to review and revise their sick time policies, a legal expert told Podcast 83 in a new episode.

Melissa Hagen of the law firm of Cohl, Stoker and Toskey detailed how the Michigan Supreme Court got involved with a 2018 ballot measure and what it now means for county governments as employers in a conversation with host Stephan Currie.

“All the counties are going to have to look at their sick time policies and revise those by Feb. 21, 2025, for their non-union employees,” Hagen said. “And then they’re going to have to do the same thing whenever their current collective bargaining agreements for union employees (expire).

“What this means for counties is that they should have somebody ― HR, their attorneys, whatever ― review their current policies. Because while many of them provide more sick days than the act requires, the act has some other points to it that employers may typically not include in their current policies,” Hagen continued. “One of those is that the act requires that sick time accrual (can’t be frontloaded). Many employers say on day one you’ve got, you know, five sick days. You can’t do that anymore. You have to accrue one day for every 30 hours worked.

“The other thing counties really want to look at is the expanded use of sick time, which is now mandated by the (Earned Sick Time Act). … Now I can use my sick time to go to a meeting at my child’s school, if that meeting is related to my child’s health. I can use my sick time to take my mother to her doctor’s appointment. So those are issues that the county needs to look at.”

Episode 92 – Released 10/1/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: With legislative activity in Lansing still on a slow simmer, at best, MAC’s advocacy staff continue to prepare for what is expected to be an extraordinary “lame duck” session after the General Election, MAC’s Podcast 83 team explains in a new episode.

“First, there are the concerns around minimum staffing,” said Deena Bosworth. “Legislation in the House right now would make minimum staffing a mandatory subject of bargaining at the local level, particularly for Public Act 312 employees, and you combine that with the expansion of binding arbitration to corrections officers earlier this year, that’s highly concerning for us, and we will continue to oppose that going into lame duck.

“On the tax and finance side of things, we’re looking at perhaps tackling the ‘Dark Stores’ legislation,” Bosworth added. “Reps. (Julie) Brixie and (Jenn) Hill have some bills in and I know it’s a very big priority for them.

“And clearly the no. 1 issue is our Revenue Sharing Trust Fund again, which is sitting in the Senate Finance Committee; we are hoping that they move it out of there. We do know we have an overwhelming number of legislators in support of it. It’s just (a matter of) will they move it and put it on the governor’s desk for her signature?”

Bosworth also noted that MAC has released a series of one-page “Issue Briefs” for members to use in their talks with state legislators.

“We give them a little bit of background on the topic and really what we want you to talk to your legislators about,” Bosworth said. “So please, everybody … look up those issue briefs. If you are seeing your legislators back in district before the election … please bring some of these items up and help us get over the finish line on some of them.”

MAC Issue Briefs

Host and Executive Director Stephan Currie reviewed the results of MAC’s Annual Conference, held Sept. 24-26, including:

• The installation of Wayne County’s Melissa Daub as MAC’s 116^th Board president
• The election of John Malnar of Delta County as the newest MAC Board director

Special Episode on Blue Cross Services – Released 9/24/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guest: Yaniv Ribon of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Topic: Designing health plans to help county employees save money is the topic of a special episode of Podcast 83, featuring a representative of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBS), a MAC Premier Partner.

I suspect that many in the audience are thinking about their benefit decisions for 2025 and … I like to really suggest our (Blue Care Network) HMO plans,” said Yaniv Ribon, a senior director with BCBS. “And I want to highlight one plan specifically, and that’s our point of service plan.

“It really combines the flexibility of a PPO with the cost savings of an HMO. And how that looks is that members still enjoy the convenience of not needing referrals and having access to benefits, whether they see an in-network provider or out-of-network provider, or maybe even living out of state or working out of state,” Ribon added.

Blue Cross also is focused on helping counties and their employees contain rising prescription drug costs, Ribon told Podcast host Stephan Currie.

“We launched Price Edge in June of 2023, little more than a year now, and we’ve already saved Blue Care Network members more than $14 million at the pharmacy counter. For those with chronic conditions, we launched a program we call Sempra. Sempra members receive discounts at the pharmacy counter for adhering to their regimen. … And lastly, again, thinking about generic medications. In 2020, we joined forces with many new plans across many states and partnered with an organization called Civica RX,” Ribon explained.

“We’ve got a broad network of doctors and hospitals in all 83 Michigan counties. So, no matter which county you’re in, we have a plan for you,” Ribon said. “We have a network of providers for you. But alongside that, we really see ourselves as a next generation HMO. And by that, what I mean is that all of our plans are jam packed with programs really designed to focus on whole person health.”

Episode 91 – Released 9/18/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: How MAC develops its policy positions is the subject of the newest episode of Podcast 83.

Host Stephan Currie was joined by the Governmental Affairs team of Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson to discuss the draft platforms that MAC members will review and approve on Sept. 26 at the 2024 Annual Conference.

“Our internal committees focus on different policy areas,” said Bosworth, “Every year, we also go over our platforms for our membership … We don’t bring every single bill that the Legislature introduces in front of each one of our committees. That would … really not be the best use of our time.

“After the committees do their work, those platforms go to our Board of Directors, and so the MAC Board reviews those policy positions that they’ve taken. … Then those platforms go to our general membership,” she added.

Among proposed changes for this cycle’s platforms are:

• Economic development: “We’ve changed our platforms a bit to say, hey, counties need to be at the table if taxes are going to be abated for economic development purposes, counties need to be involved,” Bosworth explained.
• Mental health: “We really honed our opposition to any attempt to privatize the public mental health system, which keeps coming up session after session,” Gibson reported.
• Septic code: “We’ve talked about (a septic code) at length in the Environmental Committee,” said Fata. “So, we really expanded this section on a statewide septic code and sewage solutions. We included several new bullet points to address some of the concerns that have come out of those conversations.”

To see the draft platforms, visit the MAC website. (NOTE: To access this page, you will need your county’s credentials. If you don’t have them, email Amanda Despins at despins@micounties.org for them.)

Only commissioners who are registered for the conference may participate in the platform voting on Sept. 26.

Episode 90 – Released 9/10/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: Legislative activity remains minimal in Lansing, but MAC is monitoring several situations that loom for the end of 2024, members of the Podcast 83 team discussed in their newest episode.

On the revenue sharing front, MAC and its members are waiting on final calculations from the state Treasury Department to have final and firm fiscal 2025 investments.

“The way the budget ended up was that every county is going to get the same amount they got for this current fiscal year, plus an increase,” said Deena Bosworth. “Now the base is what you got in fiscal 2024, plus a $30 million increase …

“All of you who are out there thinking, ‘Well, what does that $30 million mean to my particular county?’ An estimate is on our website. … And I want to stress they are preliminary numbers. … As soon as the Michigan Department of Treasury can figure out what the taxable value is for 2024 for your particular county, they will go back and redo those numbers. We don’t expect them to change very much. So, what we have on our website is pretty darn close …”

MAC also is hard at work on trial court funding via a new workgroup.

“The trial court funding extension was pushed back to Dec. 31, 2026,” noted Samantha Gibson. “The goal is, in the meantime, for the State Court Administrative Office and the Michigan Judicial Council to work on new recommendations for reform. Right now, there is a clerical workload study going on. … I and two of our board members, Melissa Daub and Ken Mitchell, serve on that group. We were tasked with coming up with a survey that’s going out to local court staff clerks, traffic, criminal, probate, you name it. They’ll be doing a workload study, filling out that survey. And then once those survey results are reported, then recommendations can move along in that process.”

Finally, new language is out from advocates who want to impose a statewide septic code.

“It’s substantially different,” said Madeline Fata, in reference to the new language over previous drafts. “We are still taking a look at it, still trying to analyze what the practical implementation of it means … Hopefully, by the (Annual) Conference, we’ll be able to speak to it a little better. So those of you attending the conference will be able to get a little more information.”

Special episode on Artificial Intelligence – Released 8/27/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guest: Rita Reynolds, CIO, National Association of Counties
Topic: County leaders feeling hesitant about artificial intelligence (AI) entering their workplaces need to realize the technology is already there – and will be a boon to them and their staffs, said a National Association of Counties (NACo) expert in the newest episode of Podcast 83.

Rita Reynolds, NACo’s chief information officer, and host Stephan Currie conducted a wide-ranging discussion on AI terminology, its scope and how county leaders can use a new NACo toolkit to adapt to this seminal technology.

“When you start looking at some of those recommendations in generative AI, and were we first going to start seeing it in county government, where are we going to see it initially?” Currie asked. “Is it in the back office? Is it front office? … Talk a little bit about that, where you’re starting to see counties implement some generative AI.”

“Early on ― and even now ― there’s a definite focus with what we would call the productivity applications, which really, mostly, are the back office,” Reynolds replied. “So, for productivity, it’s those type of tasks where I’m doing the same thing over and over, and it’s taking me a lot of time, or it is so repetitive that’s why I can hand this off to someone.

“And it could be as simple as meeting notes, having the artificial intelligence work for you during a meeting and summarize the meeting minutes at the end of it, it could be taking a chunk of information, maybe you’ve written something for an article, but you’re not happy with the way it’s worded. Or you need to reword it in simpler terms. And so that’s generative AI, as we call it, the tool that allows you to put information in and it generates out a response that is potentially easier to understand or more professional.”

“What do you foresee the future now is of this toolkit?” Currie asked.

“We already do have a game plan and a roadmap. Basically, the toolkit is live on the naco.org website. … There’s also an interactive, tabular type page that allows you to say, ‘I’m an elected official, take me to those sections that I need to really be aware of.’ And it’ll take you to the benefits, the challenges, the opportunities, some use cases and then several, not all, of the work recommendations,” Reynolds explained.

“I would like to just mention,” Reynolds concluded, “from the challenge perspective, the (NACo) committee was very cognizant that there are areas such as accuracy, relevancy and, of course, particularly bias that could be in the data. And we’ve all said all along, there’s always been that type of problem. Generative AI just brings it to the forefront and actually gives counties now the opportunity to be better at cleaning up the data and making it relevant.”

Special episode on Mental Health Services – Released 8/13/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guest: Richard Carpenter of Rehmann
Topic: A review of the major changes in county mental health responsibilities in recent decades and the challenges now confronting counties in the mental health space are the focus of a new special episode of Podcast 83.

Richard Carpenter, a specialist with Rehmann, a MAC Premier Partner, sat down with host Stephan Currie to reiterate and expand on points he made during a presentation at this year’s Legislative Conference.

“In the late’ 70s and early’ 80s, the state started to close a lot of the state facilities … and that’s where the counties really started picking up that responsibility,” Carpenter explained.

Carpenter noted several resource opportunities for counties today:

• “We’ve even seen really good partnerships with Mental Health First Aid training that some counties are getting very involved in with their community mental health services programs, so their first responders are ready to identify and respond to those emergencies that might include a behavioral health component.”
• “We do see opportunities with both our state General Fund dollars at the Community Mental Health Services programs and our Medicaid dollars; I can’t stress enough that our Medicaid dollars can help individuals stay out of … incarceration.”
• “There is access through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services in what they call the Community Mental Health Block grants. And they still have … substance abuse and prevention and treatment block grant dollars.”

“When I look into the future, what are the hot things that I would recommend people kind of keep their ears open for keep their eyes on,” concluded Carpenter, “the no. 1 of them is the (Certified) Community Behavioral Health Clinic. The state of Michigan is putting a lot of dollars into that CCBHC program.”

Special episode on Broadband Funding – Released 7/30/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Seamus Dowdall of NACo and Madeline Fata of MAC
Topic: A national advocate on broadband internet expansion visited with Podcast 83 recently to give updates on two major programs affecting Michigan ― one that is stuck awaiting congressional action and another that is on the brink of making local investments.

Seamus Dowdall, legislative director for telecommunications & technology for the National Association of Counties (NACo), talked with host Stephan Currie and MAC’s Madeline Fata about NACo’s work on the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD).

Created in 2021, ACP has brought about $520 million into Michigan via aid to nearly 1 million enrolled households, according to a White House Fact Sheet released in January.

Unfortunately, funding for the work lapsed on June 1 and Congress has yet to restore it, Dowdall said.

“The way the program has been designed is it has relied on one-time appropriations,” he said. “However, the (Federal Communications Commission) traditionally will fund their own programs through what’s known as the Universal Service Fund. … The hope is that a program like the ACP could potentially be funded through such a mechanism; they just need Congress to actually authorize and allow them to do that.”

Better news is found, Dowdall explained, on the BEAD program.

States will receive the portion of $42 billion in federal aid that corresponds to how many unserved and underserved locations in their boundaries.

“Most states are at a point now where they have designed their initial plans for how they plan to use funding,” Dowdall said. “And they’ve conducted some local consultation on what locations they plan to serve. They’re now moving into a position where they’re seeking applications on proposals for how to build out this infrastructure. And this is really a key milestone, because it’s one of the last steps before the program greenlights all the funding to the states, who can then send money to sub grantees to really build these networks and get these households connected.”

Special episode on 211 and ALICE – Released 7/16/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Kaitlynn Lamie, president and CEO of the Michigan Association of United Ways; Sarah Kile, director of community and partner engagement for Michigan 211
Topic: How county leaders can assist the growing number of Michigan households experiencing financial hardship is the focus of a special episode of Podcast 83. Host Stephan Currie welcomed two special guests to discuss a recent report on financial hardships and an important informational tool for families to access help.

“ALICE is a study that stands for ‘Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed,’” explained Lamie. “We now have 10 years of ALICE data, and this is really looking at folks who are working, yet still struggling to make ends meet.

“The newest data (from May) showed that we have 100,000 new households in Michigan that fall below that ALICE threshold,” she added. With these additions, 41 percent of Michigan households are below the threshold. Those households, though, can connect for assistance via 211.

“Every county in Michigan is covered with a simple three-digit number when you’re looking for assistance,” said Kile. “So, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. We have trained, nationally accredited folks who ― 24 hours a day, seven days a week ― are waiting to find resources for individuals in your community. The most common are housing, food, utilities ― the basic needs.

“There are so many county commissioners, county leaders all over who’ve supported 211, whether it’s letters of support for funding or letters of support to get the service in their community,” she added.

Special Episode on FY25 State Budget – Released 6/28/24
Host: Deena Bosworth
Guests: Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topic: A $30 million boost to county revenue sharing highlights the fiscal 2025 state budget. But this 11.5 percent increase to the revenue sharing total of $291 million will not mean every county will get 11.5 percent more, MAC’s Deena Bosworth explained in a special budget episode of Podcast 83.

The increase of $30 million will be distributed differently than traditional statutory revenue sharing payments. Those payments will be calculated based on an inverse relationship to the taxable value of your county, as compared to the rest of the state

“We don’t have the numbers broken out by county yet, or what that percentage increase is going to be for each county. But as soon as the Department of Treasury puts that together, we will make sure that all of you have it so you know what to anticipate,” Bosworth said.

“So, overall, a very healthy increase. It’s not one-time monies … it is ongoing, the way that it’s written,” Bosworth added.

On other budget fronts affecting counties:

Samantha Gibson noted a new $17 million for county prosecutors to address their hiring and staff retention crisis. “The distribution will go to 15 counties with the highest rates of violent crime per 1,000 residents,” Gibson said. “At this time, I do not have what that list of 15 counties is, but I’m sure we’ll have that very soon here.”

“There is $74.5 million in the transportation budget for 30 individual critical infrastructure projects,” said Madeline Fata, “so some of you might have been lucky enough to be on that list and have some projects coming to your communities.”

Fata also noted two absences from the budget:

• There are no state dollars for a pilot project on “mileage-based user fees” for road funding; instead, the state will pursue federal aid for that pilot.
• And the huge increase in tipping fees for solid waste that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had sought was not adopted in the budget.

Special Episode on Renewable Energy Siting – Released 6/18/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Sarah Mills of University of Michigan; Madeline Fata of MAC
Topic: County officials need to be taking concrete actions now to prepare for the November implementation of a controversial state law on siting renewable energy facilities, a University of Michigan analyst told Podcast 83 in a new episode.

“If you hire outside legal counsel, or if you have outside planning experts, you need to get them on retainer now because everybody is going to be changing their ordinances between August and the end of the year,” said Sarah Mills of the university’s Center for EmPowering Communities.

Public Act 233 was adopted in 2023 despite opposition from MAC and others due to its assault on local control by giving ultimate authority on siting decisions to the unelected Public Service Commission (PSC).

In a wide-ranging discussion with host Stephan Currie and MAC’s Madeline Fata, Mills explained that the law still leaves local governments with responsibilities ― and opportunities.

“One of the things that’s really important is to think about what the law does, and what it doesn’t do,” Mills said. “So zoning is still in effect; local governments can still zone for renewables. It’s just for those biggest projects. So solar projects that are over about 400 acres, wind projects that are like 330 or so and then energy storage projects, which we don’t have very many of right now. But this kind of scale of project that we’re talking about is something that could be on as little as five acres of land.”

Mills noted that the PSC will be issuing its final draft recommendations on how to implement the law on June 21, then the body will take feedback on them (click here to see where to provide such feedback) before issuing the final official plan around Aug. 9.

In the meantime, Mills said, counties need to decide whether they’ll adopt an ordinance at all, a compatible renewable energy ordinance (CREO) or a workable ordinance that allows locals to set criteria outside of the law but that might still be attractive to developers.

Episode 89 – Released 6/11/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: While the Legislature’s work on the fiscal 2025 state budget remains behind closed doors, MAC’s advocates at the State Capitol have been shepherding forward policy reforms to boost county hiring, investments in public services and assist jurors.

Podcast 83 host Stephan Currie and guests Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson engaged in a wide-ranging discussion on policy in Lansing in the podcast’s newest episode on June 11.

County hiring legislation

“(House Bill 5203) would allow those counties that have their own retirement system that are not a member of MERS … to rehire sheriff’s people for the sheriff’s department. And MAC was supportive of the endeavor (since) all those counties that are in the MERS system already have that ability. But it was those 13 counties that are not in that system that this would extend that ability to them,” Bosworth explained.

MAC worked to expand the legislation, though, so it can be used to bolster employment in other departments. “There are situations where you’ve got experts who have retired and the county really needs to bring them back without any significant limitations on it,” Bosworth noted.

MAC’s expectation is HB 5203 will clear the Senate committee this week and may reach the governor’s desk for signature before the Legislature leaves Lansing for the summer.

Economic/public investment strategies

The lion’s share of legislative attention in Lansing right now surrounds a Democratic proposal to revamp the state’s economic development strategic into a two-pronged approach that could mean billions of dollars for mobility investments by local governments.

The complicated legislative package involves bills from both the Senate (SBs 599/562) and House (HBs 5768-70) that are “tie-barred,” or required to move together.

A major portion of the work of interest to MAC, “Michigan 360,” was suddenly and unexpectedly junked this week, Bosworth said.

What remains is the “Michigan Mobility Trust Fund,” which would be provided with $200 million a year for 10 years, for total of $2 billion. Local governments will be eligible for these funds, as would regional transit authorities and public transportation providers.

Juror compensation

“So, a while back, a jury reform task force met and came up with a set of policy recommendations,” said Gibson. “House Bills 5689-5693 do a wide variety of things to reform the jury process; but most importantly to counties is the bills would increase the hourly rate that you would receive as a juror, and it ties it to minimum wage.

“That in and of itself, not an issue. The issue lies in what’s called the juror compensation fund. That is quickly dwindling. … So, when you have an ever-decreasing pot of money, and an attempt to increase the hourly rate that jurors are receiving, it begs the question: Who is then responsible for making up the difference? …

“(M)y goal is to ensure that that responsibility does not fall onto the county,” Gibson added.

Negotiations continue on the bills, which won’t be taken up until the fall.

Episode 88 – Released 6/4/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: With legislative activity largely squelched last week due to the Mackinac Policy Conference on Mackinac Island, lawmakers return to Lansing this week with lots of budget and policy matters still on their plate.

Podcast 83 host Stephan Currie discussed with guests Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson what the next “20 to 30 days” will look like at the State Capitol in the latest episode of Podcast 83.

Budgets/revenue sharing

“We are waiting for them to finalize each and every one of their budgets,” Bosworth said, including those that affect MAC’s proposal for a Revenue Sharing Trust Fund.

Negotiations continue over the differing approaches taken by the House and Senate, with MAC strongly favoring the Senate approach, which would mean a $52 million boost in the first year for counties, Bosworth explained.

County hiring rules

“At a Senate Local Government Committee meeting tomorrow, they’re going to take up House Bill 5203,” Bosworth said. MAC is backing an amendment to expand the bill’s provisions to allow any county department, not just sheriffs, to rehire retirees without the retiree’s benefits being jeopardized. “We know how hard it is for county government right now to hire. And sometimes you need that expertise in different departments to come back and help teach new newer generations of employees. So we’re hopeful that that gets moved to the process this week.”

Medicaid coverage for jail inmates

“Something we’ve talked about at length at the policy summit last December and on this podcast is the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy,” said Gibson. The (Michigan Department of Health and Human Services) is in the process of applying for what’s called the Section 1115 Re-entry Waiver, which would allow county jail inmates, juvenile detention, detainees and then also MDOC inmates to have their uninsured health care costs covered, they would have otherwise been eligible for Medicaid upon incarceration, you’re no longer eligible, which as we know, is incredibly costly to counties. MDHHS is in the third step of their six-step process towards applying and implementing the waiver approval. … So they’re chugging along, And there’s that $30.5 million proposal in the governor’s and House’s budget plans to cover the uninsured costs of jail inmates.”

Voting regulations

“Something kind of bigger that I do anticipate movement before they break for the summer is Michigan Voting Rights Act package. We’ve had some stakeholder meetings with the Senate policy team, and we received new drafts just this morning (June 3). So I do believe that they’ll leave the Senate Elections Committee before they break, which is good news,” Fata said.

Those bills are meant to codify the federal Voting Rights Act, but the way they were initially written puts a massive burden on our local clerks. And it could potentially expose local governments to some legal challenges and lawsuits. But in stakeholder meetings, I think we’ve made some great progress to mirror the federal act more closely. So, we’ve made some progress, and we have to review those drafts more closely. We’ll keep you posted on some movement.”

Energy siting law

With the pivot of the ballot group Citizens for Local Choice from the 2024 ballot to the 2026 one, counties need to start working on complying with the state law passed in 2023 that encroaches deeply on local control on renewable energy locations:

“For those counties who do handle zoning, if you were holding out hope that this would be successful, unfortunately, come November of this year, that law takes effect,” said Fata. “So, you will need to get your plans in order. Sarah Mills and Madeleine Krol from the University of Michigan have put together an excellent article that will be in our June magazine later this month that details the three paths that a local government may take moving forward. So, stay tuned for that. But you’re going have to get your ducks in a row in the coming months: either adopt an ordinance, don’t adopt an ordinance, it’ll be up to each individual municipality.”

Episode 87 – Released 5/14/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: Legislators continue to grind on a fiscal 2025 state budget, a document that could yield a massive reform in county revenue sharing, a Podcast 83 team member detailed this week in a new episode.

While the governor, the House and the Senate all have proposed increases in revenue sharing, it’s the Senate approach that is most attractive, said Governmental Affairs Director Deena Bosworth.

Like the House, the Senate is pursuing MAC’s trust fund proposal of carving out a portion of the state sales tax for use in dedicated fund for counties.

“(The Senate) wants to do 9.1 percent of the state sales tax for cities, villages, townships and counties. And they are not doing the public safety percentage (which the House is pursuing),” Bosworth said. “So, Sen. (John) Cherry made the recommendation that we’re going to take a bigger piece of the sales tax, which is a $52.5 million increase. He says whatever your county got in fiscal year 24 is absolutely the minimum. And then that additional $52.5 million that he is recommending for this year is going to get distributed out to counties based on an inverse relationship to their taxable value.”

The next big step in the budget process is the Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference on Friday, May 17. That’s when legislators will know final numbers for spending. The expectation is the Legislature will finish its budget work in mid-June, well ahead of its statutory deadline of July 1.

In other Capitol news:

• Samantha Gibson explained MAC’s opposition to a bill on prisoners earning release credits that could disrupt the state’s “Truth in Sentencing” rules.
• Madeline Fata explained the huge burdens that could fall on county clerks and other local election officials if the current version of the so-called “Michigan Voting Rights Act” legislation were to be adopted.

Episode 86 – Released 4/16/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: Two special elections being held today (April 16) for the Michigan House should break the long-standing legislative logjam in Lansing ― a logjam that has trapped key MAC priorities for counties, the Podcast 83 Team reported in their newest episode.

“There are two House seats that need to be filled: the 13th District down in Macomb County and the 25th House District in Wayne County,” explained Governmental Affairs Associate Madeline Fata. “We do expect that both of those seats will be filled by Democrats, which would then bring the House up to 56 Democrats 54 Republicans moving forward after this week.”

“It’s been … four weeks since we’ve had any potential traction on the two House bills (on trial court funding),” said Governmental Affairs Associate Samantha Gibson. “Those two bills are crossed tie-barred, meaning they cannot move forward to the governor’s desk without one another. … Assuming that the Democratic majority is reinstated, I think, whenever those seats are filled, then the elections are certified, we will see progress on those bills getting out of the House.”

“We keep talking about the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund bills, and I can’t, for the life of me, understand how it’s wrapped up in different issues,” said Governmental Affairs Director Deena Bosworth, “But we’ve been waiting on them to move (the bills) since November. … And we really do need somebody to have a majority in the state House so that we can get some stuff moving.”

Other topics discussed in this week’s episode:

• Legislation governing short-term rental regulations will get a hearing this week
• The upcoming Michigan Counties Legislative Conference will feature a keynote address on leadership plus workshops on such policy topics as Michigan’s new energy siting law and dealing with the state’s burgeoning deer herd

Episode 85 -Released 4/9/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: With legislators returning to Lansing this week, focus again turns to the overdue action on the authority of trial courts to levy fees, MAC’s Samantha Gibson told her fellow Podcast 83 team members in the group’s newest episode.

“So, at this time, unfortunately, we’re still held up on trial court funding legislation in the House,” Gibson said. “What’s becoming increasingly likely, and what I think will end up happening, is once the two vacant house seats are filled after those special elections, April 16, maybe. So, let’s say April 23 or 24, maybe the House will vote the bills out, then the Senate is going to have a hearing on some Senate versions of those bills on the 18th. So, whenever the House bills get over there, they can just get sent right to the Senate floor. … We probably will be looking at a week or so after May 1 for implementation of the new sunset.”

In that case, MAC will be pressing the state to reimburse counties for the approximately $1 million per week that will be lost in operating revenue, as it did the last time the fee authority expired in the fall of 2022.

Also reviewed in this week’s episode are:

• The potential effects of legislation just signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on hotel/motel tax authority for Kent and seven other counties.
• The timing for the passage of the state’s FY25 budget this spring with the statewide election calendar looming.

Special Episode on CoProPlus procurement program – Released 4/2/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Penny Saites and Chuck Wolford of CoProPlus
Topic: Were you aware that a MAC program offers your procurement team more than 150 contracts for goods and services, all pre-negotiated and in full compliance with state law? MAC’s CoProPlus subsidiary, now entering its second decade of service to public entities, stands ready to assist MAC members in expansive ways, explained CoPro+ staffers in a new episode of MAC’s Podcast 83.

“One thing that makes us unique is that we will go into an entity that needs our services and offer a full range of end-to-end procurement services,” said Penny Saites of CoPro+. “(We offer) everything from writing bid specs, to writing the bid document, to assisting through the procurement process and all the way to evaluation and contract execution.”

“Any public agency is eligible to participate in the program,” added Chuck Wolford. “And that could be a county, a city, a township, a public school, a college or a university. And you can use the contracts at absolutely no cost to you and save you the time for procuring it again, we’ve already done the work for you. It’s already been vetted. And you’re always going have something that’s done the right way through this program.”

While the figure changes regularly, CoPro+ has about 150 contracts in place. About 20 counties have made use of at least one such contract. “We have contracts in commodities, IT professional services and maintenance and repair type contracts. So, if you’re a facility guy, you’re going want to look at some of those building services contracts that we have, like we have a really nice overhead door contract where those vendors also do HVAC and other building services,” Saites explained. “We are looking at some of the professional services contracts; grant writing I know is one of them. We get a lot of questions from MAC (on that issue),” Saites added. “There’s also compensation studies available on there, if folks would like to engage with that group.”

Special Episode: Energy Siting Ballot Campaign – Released 3/26/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guest: Kevon Martis, Lenawee County commissioner
Topic: “This is strictly a question of who decides how to site these things, the (Michigan Public Service Commission) or local units of government.”

So explained Lenawee County Commissioner Kevon Martis about the ballot campaign he and other concerned citizens formed now to contest Public Act 233, the controversial state law adopted in 2023 on the siting of renewable energy facilities.

“Public Act 233 has really taken away any meaningful local control of wind, solar and battery storage regulation,” Martis explained to Podcast 83 host Stephan Currie in a new special episode. “We’ve taken the approach that people should have a vote on this, and we’re trying to place the repeal of that local zoning preemption on the ballot this November.”

Under the name “Citizens for Local Choice,” this group wants voters to have a chance to modify the law to protect local control.

“We introduced this as initiated legislation and that legislation targets only the local zoning preemption (in the law),” Martis explained. “We’re not touching any of the energy policy side of this.”

The group, of which MAC is now a part, needs 357,000 signatures by May 29 to meet its goal of reaching the November 2024 ballot.

“My strong recommendation to (Michigan’s county commissioners) is if each of you go out and collect one or two pages of signatures ― and each page has 12 signatures ― that will make a meaningful difference in our efforts,” Martis said.

Special Episode: Road Funding – Released 3/19/24
Host: Deena Bosworth
Guests: Ed Noyola of CRA and Madeline Fata of MAC
Topic: Michigan has a nearly $3 billion a year funding gap to maintain its county road network, an expert in the field told MAC’s Podcast 83 in a new special episode.

“We’re short about $2.8 billion a year for county road agencies,” said Ed Noyola, chief deputy and legislative director for the County Road Association of Michigan. “So that is really a number that boggles the mind, and I’m sure it’s going to boggle the minds of our legislators and the governor’s office to include on top of what MDOT needs and what the cities and villages need.”

As daunting as the need is, finding a solution may be more of a challenge, Noyola warned.

“There is no way that the amount of money that we have is going to maintain (the roads) that we all have to maintain and make improvements to, period,” Noyola said.

“We’ve tried not to tell the Legislature what’s the best choice or how much they need to invest in the infrastructure. I don’t think we can play that anymore. I think we have to be direct and honest with them as to how much we need. They can decide whether they can meet that figure or not, but at least we have to tell them how much we need to increase it in the short term,” he explained.

What is a “mileage-based user fee” and how would it work?

A promising new solution, Noyola says is the “mileage-based user fee.”

“It is a perfect user fee. If you drive 10,000 miles, you’re going to pay for 10,000 miles; if you drive 50,000 miles, you’re going to pay for 50,000 miles of road driving.”

Episode 84 – Released 3/5/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: While the State Capitol might not be dominating headlines with passage of major legislation so far in 2024, the work there for MAC is as expansive as ever, members of the Podcast 83 Team note in their newest episode.

The legislative slowdown continues from the results of last November’s elections when the Democrats lost their majority in the House, leaving a 54-54 chamber that will remain tied until the end of April when new members are seated for two vacancies.

MAC, however, continues to crisscross the Capitol campus to brief legislators on county priorities and needs.

MAC, for example, testified last week before a Senate appropriations panel on the association’s opioid settlement efforts and the reaction was widely positive, Samantha Gibson reported.

“Our feeling on feedback from senators after that committee hearing was that they were really glad and impressed to hear about what was going on at MAC,” Gibson said. “It is important to note that I don’t believe anyone has started spending their settlement dollars yet and that’s because counties are really taking the time to hear from stakeholders and make sure that as many people as possible are engaged in the process, that they’re going to spend those dollars as effectively as they can.”

In the juvenile justice sphere, Gibson outlined more MAC testimony scheduled for mid-day Tuesday, March 5 on the critical need for more beds for juvenile offenders to receive treatment and services.

“We really want to hone in on the need to address the staffing shortage with juvenile justice funding and how state dollars can go even further to implement juvenile justice reform,” Gibson said. “So this bed shortage … is really a result of a staffing shortage, and if we can use additional state funding to increase the rate of pay for staffers and juvenile facilities, we can recruit and retain the staff, open additional beds and, again, put the reforms that we saw at the end of last year put them to work even further.”

Director of Governmental Affairs Deena Bosworth also is testifying on Wednesday, March 6, this time on House Bill 5353, a measure designed to make legislators confront the effects of unfunded mandates on local governments by forcing fiscal reporting to them before any relevant measure can leave the State Capitol.

“MAC has always been supportive of any kind of unfunded mandates legislation dating back to 2009, when the legislative commission on unfunded mandates issued their report,” Bosworth explained. “We have not been successful in getting this all the way through the process and enacted. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we can cross that threshold this time.

“The only teeth (in the bill) are that we don’t have to comply … if they don’t follow the fiscal note process,” Bosworth added. “

Special Episode: Housing Policy – Released 2/20/24
Host: Deena Bosworth
Guest: Amy Hovey, executive director, Michigan State Housing Development Authority
Topic: Housing policy

“We are about 190,000 (housing) units short of where we need to be.”

Those were the words of Amy Hovey, executive director of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) in explaining the state’s housing crisis in a special episode of Podcast 83.

Governmental Affairs Director Deena Bosworth, subbing in for regular host Stephan Currie, engaged in a wide-ranging discussion of how and why housing became such a challenge for Michigan families – and Michigan policymakers. “Primarily, this is because our household size has shrunk in our state. It was just over four people per household, and now it’s only at two people per household. So, even though we aren’t having a lot of population growth in our state, we still have a housing crisis,” Hovey explained.

In maps shared by Hovey’s staff, this crisis pinches some counties more than others, with effects pronounced in Branch Missaukee, Montcalm, Newaygo and Otsego.

While most of MSHDA’s financial efforts are aimed at developers and individuals, Hovey emphasized the need for county involvement in the state’s housing plan.

“Governments at every level should be involved in the (state’s 15 regional housing partnerships), bringing their voices and their needs to the development of those plans,” Hovey explained. We have seen some counties, which I love. I met with Charlevoix County late last year, and they’re thinking about doing countywide zoning, which I love the idea. Counties often have more capacity than some of our smaller local governments, especially in our rural areas of our state.”

Special Episode: FY25 State Budget Proposal – Released 2/12/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: Counties would see significant investments in key needs under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s fiscal 2025 state budget, MAC’s Podcast 83 team noted in their latest episode.

However, new dollars for revenue sharing, juvenile justice and health care for some jail inmates still have to get through the legislative budget process, never a sure thing said team members.

Whitmer calls for $281.2 million for county revenue sharing, with increases set in a mix of unrestricted and restricted formats. If approved, this amount would represent a $26 million boost from the FY24 baseline amount.

Governmental Affairs Director Deena Bosworth cautioned that this amount is the starting point of budget talks. “We have to watch it through the entire process very, very closely,” she said.

The governor’s plan also did not reference the creation of a dedicated and secured Revenue Sharing Trust Fund, a MAC priority for 2024, but Bosworth said the progress made last year in the Legislature on that issue is a good sign for eventual passage.

“We’re starting to see some decent sized growth right now,” Bosworth said. “But we went back and looked at where county revenue sharing was in 2001. It was $228 million. This year, the recommendation, including the one-time funds as $281 million. If we just kept up with inflation (from 2001), we would be over $400 million for counties across the state.”

On the juvenile front, Samantha Gibson said, “We’ve discussed at length, especially on this podcast, the juvenile justice bed shortage crisis. In (this budget), we do see some significant funding suggestions to go towards resolving that bed shortage. There’s $38 million to kind of reconfigure how the (state) contracts with child caring institutions.”

Whitmer’s plans in the criminal justice sphere include a $30.5 million allotment to cover health services for jail inmates slated for release who would otherwise be eligible for federal Medicaid coverage. This amount would be in service of a state effort to get a so-called Section 1115 Re-entry Waiver from the federal government to relieve counties of health care costs they now bear due to the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy.

Reform of that policy is a MAC priority for 2024, Gibson noted.

MAC was also pleased to see a $15 million allotment for stormwater improvements, said Madeline Fata.

Whitmer also seeks a 1,289 percent increase in the tipping fees to place waste in landfills, moving it from 36 cents to $5 per ton. “Gov. (Rick) Snyder recommended something similar back in 2018,” Fata said, “and he wasn’t able to get it across the finish line. With that increase, it would bring us up to par with other Midwestern states, as Michigan is currently the lowest with tipping fees.

“It would then deter out-of-state dumping, which is a problem that Michigan faces,” Fata added. “MAC does support mechanisms to deter out-of-state waste. Ultimately (the proposed increase) would generate about $80 million annually.”

Special Episode: 2024 State of the State – Released 1/26/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s ’80s-style concert of a State of the State address did not impress, said members of MAC’s Podcast 83 team in their latest episode.

“There was no recognition (in the speech) of the contribution that locals have toward making Michigan a great place,” said Deena Bosworth.

“Well, and it’s not flashy, right?” noted Steve Currie. “What counties do isn’t the flashy stuff; we do the stuff people don’t always think about. So, it’s not always going to be talked about as quickly as some other areas of government that are more flashy economic development. You know those sorts of things, but still important.”

Other parts of the governor’s comments drew a more positive response.

“(The governor) wants to put some money towards affordable housing as well,” Currie said. “We’ve talked in our committees internally, and even at our conference level we’ve had presentations on housing. So, it’s something we’ve long supported is getting affordable housing. It’s an issue everywhere from Wayne County up into the UP.”

“We haven’t seen a full fiscal impact on what the $5,000 care-giver tax credit would be and what exactly the eligibility requirements are. But I will say the Population Growth Council provided data that suggested the portion of our aging population is drastically increasing,” noted Samantha Gibson. “The 65 and up population in Michigan is a pretty staggering portion of our entire population, and we’re already seeing shortages (in care workers).”

Episode 83 – Released 1/17/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson of MAC
Topics: A long-sought policy to create a secure source of county revenue sharing dollars and changes in juvenile justice and court policies are discussed in the latest episode of Podcast 83, MAC’s podcast on all matters county-related in Michigan.

Host Stephan Currie led the Podcast 83 team of Deena Bosworth, Madeline Fata and Samantha Gibson through a review of MAC’s 2024 legislative priorities in Lansing.

Topping the list, said Bosworth, is the creation of a Revenue Sharing Trust Fund to hold dedicated state dollars to share with local governments.

“It might still be a little bit of an uphill battle because it does carve out a portion of the state sales tax and cuts into the unrestricted funds the Legislature uses … Hopefully we get some movement on it this spring,” she explained.

Bosworth also reviewed the legislative state of play on reimbursements for losses due to a property tax exemption for disabled veterans, while Gibson discussed the need to reset a legislative “sunset” on the authority of local trial courts to levy fees on defendants and Fata described the numerous challenges to infrastructure funding.

Special Episode: “Ax MI Tax” Proposal – Released 1/10/24
Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth of MAC and Steve Liedel of Dykema law firm
Topic: In a special episode to launch its 2024 season, MAC’s Podcast 83 looks at a radical ballot proposal that, if adopted, would blow a nearly $3 billion hole in county revenues.

MAC’s Stephan Currie and Deena Bosworth interviewed guest Steve Liedel of the firm of Dykema in Lansing, an expert in elections law, about the process that the group “Ax MI Tax” is using to try to ban property taxes in Michigan.

In fiscal 2022, Michigan’s 83 counties levied nearly $2.9 billion in property taxes for their operations, which would disappear under the proposed constitutional amendment.

In fiscal 2020, Michigan collected 37 percent of its state and local revenue from property taxes, well above the national average. Only 10 states were more reliant than Michigan on property taxes for revenue for public services.

The anti-tax group has twice visited the Board of State Canvassers, which reviews ballot proposals, but left without any approved language or petition forms. Undaunted, the group says it plans to collect signatures anyway to force a vote in 2024, a course Liedel detailed as having many “risks” from a legal standpoint.

After banning property taxes, the measure also would impose supermajority requirements in both legislative chambers to effectively increase taxes, in effect giving 33 percent of legislators a veto over state tax policy.

Liedel noted that the measure’s calls for “replacement revenue” are likely to fall far short of what is currently collected.

“Local millages are gone for your veterans, for your roads, for public safety …” Currie said.

“They are trying to bankrupt government,” Bosworth said.

For episodes from prior years, visit MAC’s YouTube channel.