Legislative Update 10-28-22

Written by Derek Melot on October 28, 2022. Posted in Blog, Events, Legislative, MAC news, Marketing, NACo

MAC signs letter to state asking for more juvenile justice beds

Michigan is short vital resources for juvenile offenders and the state needs to act, MAC and nine other associations told Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) in a letter sent this month.

The letter expressed concern with the lack of short-term local juvenile detention resources and out-of-home placement opportunities for highest-risk youth and warned of a system-wide crisis due to the addition of the 17-year-old population in the juvenile justice system and the closing of state and private treatment beds across the state. In many instances, short-term detention facilities operated by courts and counties are housing youth for months at a time, as opposed to days and weeks as they are intended to. The bed shortage has led courts throughout Michigan to go without proper placement for the highest-risk delinquent youth.

Local courts, counties and other stakeholders have been persistent in their efforts to resolve the shortage of beds. The circumstances that have led to this point, including lack of staffing, Raise the Age legislation, COVID restrictions and new rules and regulations have resulted in a critical shortage that is harming communities and juveniles, some of whom have mental health challenges.

The letter urges Whitmer, MDHHS and legislators to take act and work alongside stakeholders to address the bed shortage crisis with both short- and long-term solutions.

For more information on this issue, contact Samantha Gibson at gibson@micounties.org.

MAC needs members’ voices to help block mental health privatization

County leaders’ voices are needed right now to prevent a looming compromise that would privatize Michigan’s local mental health services.

A compromise deal involving Senate Bills 597 and 598 by Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Jackson) and House Bills 4925-4928 (by Rep. Mary Whiteford, R-Allegan) could result in new legislation that would damage mental health services in Michigan. SBs 597-598 would shift financial administration of Medicaid mental health services to private Medicaid health plans, taking away public accountability and local governance and replacing it with for-profit private insurance companies.

The potential deal would likely move all of children’s Medicaid services, including autism and foster care, over to private insurance companies, and the state would create one statewide entity to manage the remaining populations, essentially transitioning from 10 Pre-paid Inpatient Health Plans (PIHP) to one PIHP.

MAC opposes any attempt to shift toward privatization of our local public mental health system, and we urge members to contact their legislators to share their opposition as well.

For more information on this issue, contact Samantha Gibson at gibson@micounties.org.

Early-bird pricing now available for NACo Legislative Conference

The National Association of Counties (NACo) Legislative Conference brings together nearly 2,000 elected and appointed county officials to focus on federal policy issues that impact counties and our residents.

The 2023 conference will be Feb. 11-14 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C.

And until Dec. 10, 2022, the NACo member rate is $520.

At the event, attendees have the opportunity to engage in second-to-none policy sessions, meet the members of the 118th Congress and interact with federal agency officials. This is a one-of-a-kind advocacy opportunity to strengthen our intergovernmental partnerships for years to come.

Registration link: https://www.naco.org/events/2023-legislative-conference

Schedule link: https://www.naco.org/events/schedule/257320

Local government webinar to focus on blight, housing, outdoor grants

In partnership with the Michigan Municipal League, Michigan Townships Association, Michigan Association of Counties and the Michigan County Road Association, the Michigan Department of Treasury is pleased to announce the 18^th joint webinar, “Updates and Resources for Local Governments” for Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. (Eastern).

The Updates and Resources for Local Governments webinar series is designed to provide local government leaders and officials with the information, tools, and resources necessary to make important decisions at the local level. The upcoming webinar will focus on a selection of grants that are available to local governments through various State departments.

Specific topics covered will include:

Outdoor Public Spaces Grant Opportunity – SPARK (MDNR) – grants to help local communities to create, renovate or redevelop public outdoor spaces
Blight Elimination Grant – State Land Bank Authority is administering grants to local communities to address vacant and deteriorated properties
Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) Grants
- MI Hope – energy efficient home repair grants eligible to nonprofits and local governments
- Missing Middle Housing – housing production program designed to address the general lack of attainable housing and housing challenges underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic by increasing the supply of housing stock by providing cost defrayment to developers constructing or substantially rehabbing properties targeted to household incomes between 185% and 300% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines
- Housing and Community Development Fund – developing and coordinating resources to meet the affordable housing needs of low-income households eligible to nonprofit and for-profit developers, municipalities, land banks, and community development financial institutions

Participants can register and submit questions prior to the webinar by clicking here.

Presentations and recordings from this webinar, along with previous webinars, can be found at TREASURY – Webinars (michigan.gov). Utilize TREASURY – Contact Information (michigan.gov) for support related to Treasury’s local government services.