The Michigan Association of County Veterans Counselors (MACVC) will be the host organization for the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers (NACVSO) conference in Grand Rapids. The conference will take place June 8th-June 13th 2014at the Amway Grand Hotel and Conference Center. Approximately 400 county veterans’ benefits counselors from across the nation will attend the event.
Accreditation training and testing from NACVSO will be available at this conference for those county veterans benefits counselors who are paid county employees who work at least 1000 hours per year. An appropriation from the Michigan Legislature will cover most of the cost of attendance for county veteran’s benefits counselors in Michigan. If a county veterans benefits counselor would like information on attending the conference, please contact MACVC President, Garth Wootten as soon as possible. Mr. Wootten can be contacted by e-mail at wootteng@oakgov.com or by phone at (248) 858-0785
The National Association of Counties (NACo) legislative conference was held this week in Washington D.C.. As part of this annual conference, MAC meets with our congressional delegation to talk about federal issues affecting counties. This year the major topics for discussion included:
- The Farm Bill and PILT Payments
- Tax Exempt Municipal Bonds
- Waters of the U.S. Guidance Proposal – Federal Overreach to Control Michigan Waters
- Medicaid Expansion and Medicaid Coverage for Pre-Trial Detainees
- Federal MAP-21 Transportation Funding and;
- Marketplace Fairness (sales tax on e-commerce)
MAC would especially like to thank Senators Levin and Stabenow for their consistent dedication to meeting with all of our conference attendees each year to discuss issues of importance to counties. This annual tradition affords our commissioners quality time to have questions answered and to relay upcoming issues of concern to Michigan counties. If you would like more information about the issues MAC members discussed with their congressmen, please follow this link to our federal briefing sheet: 2014 MAC Federal Briefing Sheet
Register now for the 2014 MAC Legislative Conference in Lansing at the Radisson Hotel and Lansing Center on March 24-26. Enjoy networking, educational breakout sessions, a chance to meet with your legislators and more!
Early bird registration ends on March 6th!
You can view the full agenda here: MAC Conf Attendee Booklet
You can register here: https://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1372521
In 2009, MAC partnered with the Michigan Energy Office (MEO), Michigan Townships Association (MTA) and the Michigan Municipal League (MML) to launch the Green Communities Challenge, which measured local government progress toward energy efficiency. In the ensuing years, the program has seen a number of significant changes, including a move to a web-based checklist format, the addition of new partner organizations and an expansion of topics covered beyond energy efficiency. After a series of successful statewide conferences and other educational events, which included participation from more than 130 local governments, the supporting organizations started to view the Challenge as one component of a broader program, the Michigan Green Communities network, designed to connect leaders from around the state and help them learn from one another.
Until now, this network has been largely an informal and unofficial entity, held together by verbal agreements and the common vision of a number of individuals. Today Michigan Green Communities is supported by six statewide organizations that have signed a formal memorandum of understanding: MML, MEO, MTA, MAC, the Department of Environmental Quality and the MML Foundation. Those organizations have agreed to commit staff time and other resources to the program, which will be led by a steering committee of local government leaders. The MML Foundation has agreed to serve as the fiduciary for Michigan Green Communities.
The Michigan Green Communities network continues to grow, so visit http://mml.org/green/ to get your community or organization involved and to keep up on the latest program updates. Thank you to all the communities and organizations that have supported this initiative from 2009 to today.
