Legislative Update 2-21-20

February 21, 2020Events, Legislative, MAC news, Uncategorized

DHHS budget receives mixed response in committee session

DHHS Director Robert Gordon

As Appropriations subcommittees began work this week on the FY21 budget, Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon presented on his department’s plans in the areas of education and skills; health and families; and climate and water.

While the DHHS budget, overall, is $26 billion, Gordon said the agency consistently has to do more with less. The Legislature has been concerned with spending in the past few budget cycles, specifically as it relates to the management of IT systems and significantly reined in the spending. Gordon discussed the number of freezes initiated on the IT development and increased financial oversight through a DHHS/DTMB governance board.

Deputy Director George Mellos also presented on the departments behavioral health system transformation project that would include new specialty integrated Medicaid plans. The department wants SIPs to manage physical and behavioral health for those with significant needs and allow the community mental health providers to provide safety net services.

Additionally, the director highlighted the governor’s recommendation to increase psychiatric staffing. Northern Michigan legislators reiterated their view of a need for a facility located in Northern Michigan. Rep. Sue Allor (R-Cheboygan) noted that patient transportation from northern counties to the Caro Center in Tuscola County can keep deputies away from other duties for several days.

Lastly, the department highlighted the $5.1 million (General Fund) increase in non-Medicaid funding to community mental health providers. This, however, is coming at the expense of a $5 million increase in the local match rate for counties. In FY20, the Legislature included $5 million to start phasing out the $25 million local match amount required under section 928. The governor reversed this trend in her FY21 budget and moved it to the non-Medicaid line. MAC supports the legislative initiative to phase out the local match requirement and will advocate to have it restored as the departmental budget moves through the Legislature.

For more information on this issue, contact Meghann Keit at keit@micounties.org.

MAC meets with leaders for clerks, treasurers, RDs

MAC Board President Veronica Klinefelt and Executive Director Stephan Currie met this week with leaders of groups for Michigan clerks, treasurers and registers of deeds to discuss legislative priorities for 2020.

MAC’s Deena Bosworth and Meghann Keit briefed on a variety of MAC priorities, ranging from extending the sunset on trial court fee authority to revenue sharing.

Also discussed were bills on the tax foreclosure process; legislation to allow pre-processing of absentee ballots in the wake of Proposal 3’s liberalization of absentee voting; legislation to waive renewal fees for concealed carry permits; and proposed changes to the Open Meetings Act.

“This was an excellent discussion on the numerous issues where our organizations’ members can collaborate for everyone’s benefit,” said Stephan Currie, MAC’s executive director.

MAC appreciates the county leaders who were able to attend in person or by teleconference:

Michael Hanley, Saginaw County clerk
Laura Brandon-Maveal, Gladwin County clerk and president of the Michigan Association of County Clerks
Catherine McClary, Washtenaw County treasurer
Patty Niepoth, Antrim County register of deeds
Bob Robinson, Eaton County treasurer and second vice president of the Michigan Association of County Treasurers
Stewart Sanders, Newaygo County register of deeds and president of the Michigan Association of Registers of Deeds

MAC launched these “county summits” in early 2019 to foster communication and cooperation among the various groups representing county government offices in Michigan. Next week, MAC will host leaders from the groups representing sheriffs and prosecutors.

Time to register for 2020 Legislative Conference

The 2020 Michigan Counties Legislative Conference will feature a variety of speakers and events to enhance county officials’ learning and leadership skills.

Please note that this year’s conference runs Wednesday through Friday, April 15-17.

Among the highlights:

Plenary sessions on legislative priorities, jail reform proposals and county revenue trends
Remarks from senior state officials (Chief Justice Bridget McCormack will headline the panel)
12 workshops designed for MAC members and affiliates over three days.
A Legislative Reception on Wednesday evening
An Exhibitor Show Reception featuring complimentary beverages and snacks

The conference’s early-bird fee is just $350 for county members, which includes all commissioners, county administrators, medical care facility administrators, treasurers, prosecutors, sheriffs, clerks and registers of deeds. Please note: The early-bird rate ends on March 20, so register soon.

The conference hotel, the Radisson, is offering a special room rate of $135.95 for the event, and is connected to the main conference venue, the Lansing Center, by an enclosed pedestrian ramp.

Complete details are available in our handy Registration Packet.

Or you can begin your registration process by clicking this link. Please remember: All registrations are online only.

Fiscal training schedule stretches from Iron River to Lapeer

Training sessions designed to help county leaders on capital project planning and general financial oversight will begin March 4 and continue through the summer.

The Fiscally Ready Communities team, a joint project of the state Treasury Department and MSU Extension, will lead the sessions on capital asset management and planning and general financial oversight!

Please note: These sessions are eligible for credit in MAC’s County Commissioner Academy program.

Each training is half-day and is FREE. The material is designed for basic to intermediate knowledge or a refresher course for those with advanced knowledge.

Dates and locations for capital planning sessions are:

March 4 – Ann Arbor
April 2 – Lapeer
April 28 – Madison Heights
May 14 – Kalamazoo
June 11 – Grayling
July 8 – Iron River
July 9 – St. Ignace
Sept. 9 – Saginaw

Plans also are being finalized for sessions in Big Rapids in August. Check the website for updates.

For times and venues, see the registration page. To register for the capital trainings, visit https://events.anr.msu.edu/FRC2020/

Additionally, the team will be leading one Financial Best Practices Overview training on Thursday, May 7 in Grayling, plus a webinar planned for the fall. This training was created in 2019 to provide local governments with information on best practices and policies and procedures.

To register for the high-level overview on May 7 in Grayling, visit https://events.anr.msu.edu/FRC2020/

Please check Michigan.gov/FiscallyReady for additional information.

State offers $250,000 in anti-blight grants to small counties

The State Land Bank Authority has launched a second round of Michigan Rural Community Demolition Grants. Smaller communities in Michigan can apply for a $50,000 grant to help eliminate blight and revitalize their communities.

The funds, available to Michigan county land banks and local units of government in counties with populations under 50,000, are designed to help communities remove vacant and abandoned structures from their neighborhoods and prepare for future developments that spark business investment and provide good jobs for residents. Applications are due Friday, March 13 at 5 p.m.

The maximum award per proposal is $50,000 and can be used toward vacant and abandoned, blighted commercial or residential structures. Proposals will be evaluated based on their anticipated impact in promoting public safety, enhancing economic development, public and private investment in the project and alignment with the community vision or other placemaking efforts.

For more information, visit Michigan.gov/LandBank.

Listening sessions on opioid crisis continue March 12

The Michigan Opioids Task Force and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) are hosting a town hall Thursday, March 12, 5:30-6:30 p.m., at the Sterling Heights Community Center, 40250 Dodge Park Road.

MDHHS and the Michigan Opioids Task Force will share its strategy to address the opioids crisis, seek information about how the opioid epidemic has impacted those in attendance and host a Q&A about the crisis response.

“Information gathered during this event and other town halls will help the state develop a crisis response that is flexible; effective to fit the needs of communities from Detroit to Grand Rapids to Marquette; and informed by the experiences of Michiganders affected by the crisis. About 150 people attended a similar town hall in Detroit in January,” said MDHHS in a statement.

Future sessions will be in:

Gaylord on Friday, July 24
Escanaba on Wednesday, July 29
Flint on Friday, Sept. 25
Grand Rapids on Friday, Nov. 6

For more information about the state’s opioids response and available resources, visit Michigan.gov/opioids.

Animal welfare grants issued to county shelters

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is issuing $127,240 to 23 recipients of the 2020 Animal Welfare Fund grants. The grants help support the spaying and neutering of shelter dogs and cats to help them be more adoptable. Grants also help support many anti-cruelty and proper care programs and training around the state. Registered shelters also can receive assistance through the grant program for the unrecovered costs of care for animals involved in legal investigations.

“The Animal Welfare Fund is supported by generous Michiganders during tax season when they check the fund’s box on Form 4642, Voluntary Contributions Schedule, with their state tax returns. Since 2010, MDARD has distributed more than $1.3 million to more than 185 local animal shelters. One hundred percent of the contributions made to this fund are used for Michigan animal welfare programs,” MDARD said in a statement.

Among county facilities receiving grants were:

Cass County Animal Shelter – $10,000
Gratiot County Animal Shelter – $5,000
Kalkaska County Animal Shelter – $2,940
Macomb County Animal Shelter – $1,490
Newaygo County Animal Shelter – $874
Roscommon County Animal Shelter – $10,000
Saginaw County Animal Care Center – $8,000
St. Clair County Animal Control Shelter – $6,000
St. Joseph County Animal Shelter – $7,520

Please note that best practices for animal shelters will be the topic of a workshop at this year’s Legislative Conference in Lansing, April 15-17. For details on the workshop and registering for the conference, check out our Attendee Registration Packet.

For more information on the program, click here.

National news from NACo

Legislative Update 2-7-20

February 7, 2020Legislative, MAC news, MACSC, NACo

Revenue sharing increase highlights Gov. Whitmer’s FY21 budget

Michigan counties would see a $5.7 million boost to state revenue sharing payments under spending plans released today by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for fiscal year 2021.

In her second budget plan, Whitmer advises the Legislature to appropriate $232.2 million in statutory revenue sharing for counties, a roughly 2.5 percent increase from FY20 levels, from an $11 billion General Fund. The governor’s proposal would extend a recent trend of modest increases in revenue sharing as Michigan emerged from the Great Recession.

Whitmer also is recommending $7.2 million to support recommendations of a joint county-state Jail and Pretrial Incarceration Task Force and $40 million in grants for local governments to address flooding and infrastructure issues created by rising water levels around the state.

“Any increase is good news for our members, who are still struggling with the effects of the Great Recession and state limitations on property tax revenue,” said Stephan Currie, executive director of the Michigan Association of Counties. “Still, in other areas of the budget, resources to counties are flat or even trending downward.”

Currie noted such areas as:

Funding for county veteran services grants: $2 million recommended for FY21, down from $4 million in FY20.
Funding for Secondary Road Patrol for county sheriffs: $11.1 million recommended for FY21, down from $13 million in FY20.
Reimbursements to county jails for housing state prisoners: $14.8 million recommended for FY21, flat from FY20.
Funding for “essential local public health services”: $51.4 million recommended for FY21, flat from FY20.

“We agree with the governor’s remarks this week that funding for local services is a crisis created by many decisions over many years in Lansing. We appreciate her commitment to a conversation on addressing that trend. Now is the time to do so, when Michigan’s economy is moving at a solid pace,” Currie argued.

FY21 Estimated Revenue Sharing by County

For more information on the state budget, contact Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org.

Who controls your county buildings?

A bill discussed in the Senate Local Government Committee this week would mandate that a local unit of government allow an elected official to place his or her non-political constituent informational materials in their buildings.

Senate Bill 719 sponsor Sen. Peter Lucido (R-Macomb) also referenced a substitute to the bill that prohibits anyone from denying access to an elected official who wished to hold a constituent informational meeting at any state or local governmental office that is open to the public.

MAC testified in opposition to the legislation on the grounds that the Legislature should not enact a law prescribing what a county must do in buildings owned by the county. The bill and substitute bill, as written, do not limit the places within county buildings where any elected official from the area can place their materials or hold public meetings. And they would not allow a county to deny a time or place for such meetings, even if other meetings or functions were already scheduled for the space. Further, they do not limit the quantity of materials that may be placed anywhere an elected official chooses, nor do they specify that access can be denied when the buildings are not open for business.

MAC will continue to work with the bill sponsor to protect local control of locally owned facilities. For more information on this issue, contact Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org.

Senate committee briefed on child welfare corrections

The Senate Families, Seniors and Veterans Committee heard an update (attachment) from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) on state’s Children Rights modified Implementation Sustainability and Exit Plan (ISEP). Senior Deputy Director for the Children’s Services Agency (CSA) JooYeun Chang provided an overview from since the state became the subject of federal scrutiny after it settled Dwayne B. v Granholm (U.S. Eastern District Docket No. 06-13548) in 2008, which led to a consent decree requiring several state changes.

The hope was that the ISEP could help DHHS exit federal monitoring within the next few years. But in 2018, a child welfare audit showed the state had undercounted the number of abused, and that homes used by relatives for child placement did not meet safety standards.

In June 2019, the ISEP was modified again in recognition of progress to the MDHHS child welfare system resulting in a focused agreement on six principles: safety, children’s needs, families and communities, placement, reunification and permanency and services. Chang emphasized progress to reduce CPS call wait times by centralizing the intake process and noted the number of dropped or abandoned calls had fallen from 1,400 to below 150, as of January.

Based on the tweaked agreement, to exit the ISEP, MDHHS must meet all conditions and maintain performance standards for at least two consecutive reporting periods. And it cannot have any outstanding requests for corrective action plans. Twenty-six jurisdictions are under a similar consent decree to Michigan’s.

The state also is implementing new federal requirements under the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018. The governor’s FY21 budget includes $8.6 million for programs to prevent children from entering foster care and to reduce the utilization of residential care for foster children. According to the governor’s plan, costs will be offset by estimated savings of $11.3 million ($5.3 million General Fund) resulting from fewer children entering the foster care system. The governor also is requesting $20.6 million to complete the first phase of the replacement of the Michigan Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (MiSACWIS) with a cloud-based system. And the budget calls for $11.3 million ($5.8 million General Fund) for this new system as a fiscal year 2020 supplemental appropriation. The entire upgrade for all phases is planned to be completed by FY25.

For more information on this issue, contact Meghann Keit at keit@micounties.org.

Bills would redistribute funds from bottle deposits

A bipartisan package of bills intended to prevent bottle deposit fraud would also redistribute funds generated by unclaimed bottle deposits, sponsors told a House committee this week.

House Bills 5422-5425 received a hearing this week in the House Regulatory Reform Committee.

The heart of the bill package is HB 5423, by Rep. Brandt Iden (R-Kalamazoo), which would reconstitute how the “escheat” money (or unredeemed deposits) is spent. Current law divides the money this way: 75 percent to the Cleanup and Redevelopment Trust Fund for contaminated site cleanup and remediation and 25 percent to reimburse dealers/retailers for losses. HB 5423 would revamp that formula: 20 percent would go to new reimbursements for distributors, 25 percent would continue to reimburse retailers, 15 percent would go to a new Bottle Enforcement Fund to crack down on fraud and abuse and the remaining 40 percent would be split between the Cleanup and Redevelopment Trust Fund and the Renew Michigan Fund, which funds recycling grants, solid waste planning and contaminated site cleanup. Each year, unclaimed deposits generate about $40 million in revenue.

Since the bottle deposit law was adopted via voter initiative in the 1970s, any change would require a ¾ vote in each chamber.

MAC does not yet have a position on these bills.

For more information on this issue, contact Michael Ruddock at ruddock@micounties.org.

Deadline is Feb. 21 on veteran service grants

Counties that filed Letters of Intent now have until Feb. 21 to formally apply with the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency (MVAA) for the FY20 County Veteran Service Fund grant monies.

Per law, each grant award will consist of a $50,000 base payment. Per capita payments also will be processed based on the county’s veteran population. MVAA will review applications between Feb. 21 and Feb. 28. It will announce awards and denials on March 2.

An FY20 supplemental appropriation included $4 million for the fund after months of negotiations between the Legislature and the Governor’s Office. The letter from the agency states, “(T)he goal and intent of these grant dollars are to enhance and improve county veteran service operations in an effort to connect more veterans to their benefits and provide consistent access to services throughout the state.”

If counties have any questions about uses of the funds, please consider connecting with surrounding counties or MAC. For questions of MVAA, contact MVAAGrants@michigan.gov.

For other questions or information, contact Meghann Keit at keit@micounties.org.

State offers free naxolone to county jails

County jails may request naloxone via a new portal built by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). The department eventually plans to offer the drug, used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, to a variety of community organizations. MDHHS is recommending counties issue the drug to high-risk individuals at discharge from jail. (See the letter sent to Michigan sheriffs from MDHHS.)

You can access the portal here.

For more information, contact Jared Welehodsky of MDHHS at 517-284-4761 or welehodskyj@michigan.gov.

Feb. 11 webcast to focus on broadband gap

County leaders are encouraged to view a Pew Charitable Trusts webcast, “How to Bridge the Broadband Gap: A Conversation with State Leaders,” which will run from 9 a.m. to noon on Feb. 11.

“Though access to high-speed, reliable internet is an increasingly critical tool for modern American life, the Federal Communications Commission estimates that at least 21 million Americans still lack broadband access. Other counts suggest this number could be as high as 162 million. Although much of the conversation about expanding broadband access has focused on the federal and local levels, states are taking decisive steps to expand this critical service to communities that lack it or are underserved.

Tune in for insights on:

New research on 5 steps to effectively expand access
State promising practices
“Universal truths” of successful initiatives

Click here for details and to watch live on Feb. 11.

Revenue sharing increase highlights Gov. Whitmer’s FY21 budget

February 6, 2020Legislative, MAC news

Michigan counties would see a $5.7 million boost to state revenue sharing payments under spending plans released today by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for fiscal year 2021.

In her second budget plan, Whitmer advises the Legislature to appropriate $232.2 million in statutory revenue sharing for counties, a roughly 2.5 percent increase from FY20 levels, from an $11 billion General Fund. The governor’s proposal would extend a recent trend of modest increases in revenue sharing as Michigan emerged from the Great Recession.

Whitmer also is recommending $7.2 million to support recommendations of a joint county-state Jail and Pretrial Incarceration Task Force and $40 million in grants for local governments to address flooding and infrastructure issues created by rising water levels around the state.

“Any increase is good news for our members, who are still struggling with the effects of the Great Recession and state limitations on property tax revenue,” said Stephan Currie, executive director of the Michigan Association of Counties. “Still, in other areas of the budget, resources to counties are flat or even trending downward.”

Currie noted such areas as:

Funding for county veteran services grants: $2 million recommended for FY21, down from $4 million in FY20.
Funding for Secondary Road Patrol for county sheriffs: $11.1 million recommended for FY21, down from $13 million in FY20.
Reimbursements to county jails for housing state prisoners: $14.8 million recommended for FY21, flat from FY20.
Funding for “essential local public health services”: $51.4 million recommended for FY21, flat from FY20.

“We agree with the governor’s remarks this week that funding for local services is a crisis created by many decisions over many years in Lansing. We appreciate her commitment to a conversation on addressing that trend. Now is the time to do so, when Michigan’s economy is moving at a solid pace,” Currie argued.

FY21 Estimated Revenue Sharing by County

Legislative Update 1-31-20

January 31, 2020Legislative, MAC news

Locals waiting at starting line on road funding

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s road bonding plan, highlighted in her State of the State address Wednesday night, will leave counties without the additional resources they need.

“We’re disappointed it’s not a comprehensive plan to deal with infrastructure,” said Stephan Currie, executive director. “Counties are responsible for 74 percent of the road miles in our state, yet the proceeds from her bonding proposal would go only to state roads.”

Counties are responsible for the lion’s share of Michigan’s 120,000 miles of paved roads – 74.4 percent. In Kalkaska, Lake and Montmorency counties, more than 90 percent of road miles are under county control.

And the most acute needs for road repair are local roads. As of 2018, 47 percent of county lane miles were in poor condition, compared to 27 percent in poor condition for state trunklines, says the Transportation Asset Management Council.

And in a recent poll, far more Michigan residents trusted their local governments to spend any new road dollars (59%) than the state (23%).

“We recognize the governor’s options are limited, but this option leaves locals out of the equation entirely,” Currie noted.

On Thursday, the State Transportation Commission voted to authorize the Michigan Department of Transportation to issue $3.5 billion in bonds for state road work.

Infrastructure investments, from roads to water control, are among MAC’s legislative priorities in 2020.

“Our members stand ready to work with Gov. Whitmer and legislators of both parties to identify best practices and secure funding so county governments can do the work that Michigan residents expect,” Currie said. “We have a great deal of work ahead of us.”

For more information on MAC’s infrastructure advocacy, contact Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org.

MAC joins coalition against mining bill that guts local control

MAC has joined with six other organizations representing local governments, environmental causes and schools to urge defeat of a bill that guts local oversight over the location and operations of sand and gravel mining in Michigan.

The Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held its second hearing on Wednesday on Senate Bill 431, which would allow sand and gravel pits to operate essentially whenever and wherever they would like. The unnecessary and overreaching bill, sponsored by Sen. Adam Hollier (D-Wayne), would eliminate zoning authority and oversight capability from local governments—regardless of where the operation is located or its impact to nearby residents, schools, businesses, hospitals or others.

“The bill has two fundamental problems,” explained Deena Bosworth, director of governmental affairs with the Michigan Association of Counties. “It engages in pre-emption of local control, so that’s a ‘no’ right there. Also, it’s built on a dubious market study purporting to show a looming gravel shortage. We don’t know where all the different types of aggregate are in the state and where they would be needed. You don’t usurp local authority if you don’t even know there is a crisis.”

Bosworth’s remarks were echoed by leaders of other opposition groups.

“Senate Bill 431 is a wholly unwarranted piece of legislation that eliminates local officials’ ability to have any say in the impact of sand and gravel mines in their communities,” said Neil Sheridan, executive director of the Michigan Townships Association. “While MTA supports access to materials necessary to fix Michigan’s roads, the existing process allows for local governments to balance those needs, along with those of their residents and the impact of mining operations in their borders. This bill, however, removes local authority and all safeguards to ensure that balance.”

The legislation would essentially allow the aggregate industry to operate unfettered, with virtually zero oversight at any level of government, unfairly favoring the industry over our residents, students and the environment. It places profit before people, requiring only that an applicant for mining operations prove the operation would be profitable and the extraction will not pose a risk to public health, safety or welfare that cannot be avoided.

“This bill would have a devastating impact on our cities and villages,” said Jennifer Rigterink, legislative associate for the Michigan Municipal League. “SB 431 is all about profit for the industry and has no regard for people, communities or the environment.” See the complete coalition statement.

The bill remains in committee.

For more information on this issue, contact Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org.

MAC testifies for tweaks to competency process

County Commissioners across the state have been hearing for years of the backlog at the state’s Center for Forensic Psychiatry. Defendants are sitting in county jails waiting to be evaluated to determine competency to stand trial, and even if they are deemed incompetent, they could then be sitting in jail for long periods of time before they are moved somewhere to get treatment. Not only does this strain county jail resources, it can lead to defendants’ further mental health deterioration and delays the process for victims.

House Bill 5325, by Rep. Julie Calley (R-Ionia and a former county commissioner), would require a competency exam to be scheduled within 30 days if the defendant is being held in jail. If the exam is not completed in 30 days, the court could appoint independent qualified personnel to complete the exam. MAC is supportive of the bill in concept, but a workable funding mechanism must be identified. The county would pay for an independent evaluation under the current language and then deduct that cost from money it sends to the state through court fine and fee transmittals.

However, MAC testified in the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee this week that while a deduction process is well-intended and preferred by counties over waiting on payments from the state, the transmittal money it sends to the state is already spoken for in a variety of fine/fee statutes. Deduction of dollars from the transmittals would violate the statutory fee/assessment designations and would affect funding for those designated purposes.

MAC appreciates Rep. Calley’s willingness to find a resolution to the funding language in order to move this good policy forward. The bill is also supported in concept by the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association and the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan.

For more information on this issue, contact Meghann Keit at Keit@micounties.org.

Let us know if you are coming to Lansing

Few actions can be as effective for county advocacy as local officials coming to Lansing to talk with legislators or testify before legislative committees. MAC encourages county commissioners and administrators to use every opportunity they can to participate this way in the policy-making process.

In those situations where you decide to testify or are invited to do so by a legislator, please contact the MAC offices in advance of your committee date. Such notice allows MAC to:

provide details on the current state of legislation;
promote the appearance, thereby encouraging your colleagues to be more involved; and
offer suggested talking points or themes from a multi-county perspective.

As soon as you know you are coming to Lansing, please contact Governmental Affairs Assistant Michael Ruddock at 517-372-5374 or ruddock@micounties.org.

Learn about county’s responsibilities under E911 law

On Jan. 1, 2021, counties must have a plan and changes in place to comply with the law on E911 (Enhanced 911 services).

A March 24 webinar, sponsored by MAC and Abilita, will help answer your questions concerning E911 compliance.

Consider this: An employee at your office has a medical emergency after normal working hours with nobody around. He or she dials 911 from a desk phone and the ambulance arrives at your location. However, since it is after hours and the building is more than 20,000 square feet on multiple floors. The first responders are delayed finding the individual that dialed 911. This is a possibility; and the situation can be even more complicated if there are multiple buildings tied to one phone system through VoIP technology.

The E911 law was enacted to change this.

Among questions explored in the 45-minute webinar will be:

What is E911 and why a new law in Michigan?
What is required for compliance?
Who does this apply to?
Is there any ongoing maintenance involved with this?
What if we don’t do anything?

The webinar will run from 11 a.m. to noon on March 24. It is free and open to staffers at any MAC member county. To register, click here.

After the March 24 presentation, a recorded version will be placed on the MAC website for 24/7 viewing through the rest of 2020.

National news from NACo

MAC joins coalition against bill that usurps local control

January 29, 2020Legislative, MAC news

MAC has joined with six other organizations representing local governments, environmental causes and schools to urge defeat of a bill that guts local oversight over the location and operations of sand and gravel mining in Michigan.

The Senate Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is holding its second hearing today (Jan. 29) on Senate Bill 431, which would allow sand and gravel pits to operate essentially whenever and wherever they would like. The unnecessary and overreaching bill, sponsored by Sen. Adam Hollier (D-Detroit), would eliminate zoning authority and oversight capability from local governments—regardless of where the operation is located or its impact to nearby residents, schools, businesses, hospitals or others.

“The bill has two fundamental problems,” explained Deena Bosworth, director of governmental affairs with the Michigan Association of Counties. “It engages in pre-emption of local control, so that’s a ‘no’ right there. Also, it’s built on a dubious market study purporting to show a looming gravel shortage. We don’t know where all the different types of aggregate are in the state and where they would be needed. You don’t usurp local authority if you don’t even know there is a crisis.”

Bosworth’s remarks were echoed by leaders of other opposition groups.

“Senate Bill 431 is a wholly unwarranted piece of legislation that eliminates local officials’ ability to have any say in the impact of sand and gravel mines in their communities,” said Neil Sheridan, executive director of the Michigan Townships Association. “While MTA supports access to materials necessary to fix Michigan’s roads, the existing process allows for local governments to balance those needs, along with those of their residents and the impact of mining operations in their borders. This bill, however, removes local authority and all safeguards to ensure that balance.”

The legislation would essentially allow the aggregate industry to operate unfettered, with virtually zero oversight at any level of government, unfairly favoring the industry over our residents, students and the environment. It places profit before people, requiring only that an applicant for mining operations prove the operation would be profitable and the extraction will not pose a risk to public health, safety or welfare that cannot be avoided.

“This bill would have a devastating impact on our cities and villages,” said Jennifer Rigterink, legislative associate for the Michigan Municipal League. “SB 431 is all about profit for the industry and has no regard for people, communities or the environment.”

See the complete coalition statement.