Legislative Update 12-22-23

Written by Derek Melot on December 22, 2023. Posted in Blog, Events, Legislative, MAC news, NACo

Federal court orders new lines for set of legislative districts

Some of Michigan’s House and Senate election districts face a revamp in wake of a Thursday afternoon ruling by a federal court on a challenge that the existing maps unconstitutionally handled African-American voters.

The state’s Independent Redistricting Commission, which drew the maps and which was created via a ballot proposal in the 2018 elections, said in a statement it was “aware and disappointed” in the ruling that targets 13 House and Senate districts.

The commission has until Jan. 2 to submit a brief to the court on how it thinks the redrawing process should be done for the 2024 House elections.

The Michigan House is currently split 54-54 between Democrats and Republicans, following the resignation of two Democratic members who won mayorships in November. Special elections to refill those seats are set for April.

On social media Thursday evening, Steven C. Liedel, an attorney for the Dykema law firm wrote, “Even if (the) Independent Redistricting Commission were to redraw maps that affect other districts, the new House districts would be effective for the November 2024 election, not the special elections.

“No Senate elections until 2026,” he added.

The districts in question are:

House District 1, currently represented by state Rep. Tyrone Carter, D-Detroit.
House District 7, currently represented by state Rep. Helena Scott, D-Detroit.
House District 8, currently represented by state Rep. Mike McFall, D-Hazel Park.
House District 10, currently represented by state Rep. Joe Tate, D-Detroit.
House District 11, currently represented by state Rep. Veronica Paiz, D-Harper Woods.
House District 12, currently represented by state Rep. Kimberly Edwards, D-Eastpointe.
House District 14, currently represented by state Rep. Donavan McKinney, D-Detroit.
Senate District 1, currently represented by state Sen. Erika Geiss, D-Detroit.
Senate District 3, currently represented by state Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit.
Senate District 6, currently represented by state Sen. Mary Cavanagh, D-Redford Township.
Senate District 8, currently represented by state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak.
Senate District 10, currently represented by state Sen. Paul Wojno, D-Warren.
Senate District 11, currently represented by state Sen. Veronica Klinefelt, D-Eastpointe.

MAC will closely monitor the situation and brief members on how it might affect county legislative priorities in 2024 and beyond, said Director of Governmental Affairs Deena Bosworth.

MAC scores wins in short, but busy, year in Lansing

In a year abbreviated by an early adjournment of the Michigan Legislature, MAC and its 83 members still scored several policy victories in Lansing, highlighted by the adoption of a long-overdue reform of juvenile justice law and progress on a dedicated Revenue Sharing Trust Fund.

To see a complete summary of MAC’s work on key county issues at the State Capitol, click the image or here. (The summary is organized alphabetically by issue area.)

For questions on MAC’s advocacy work, contact Director of Governmental Affairs Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org.

Podcast 83 team reacts to report of governor’s population council

A sweeping, yet vague, set of recommendations by a state panel is the subject of the newest episode of MAC’s Podcast 83 this week.

Host Stephan Currie and MAC Governmental Affairs Team of Deena Bosworth, Samantha Gibson and Madeline Fata give some quick takes on the report of the Growing Michigan Together Council, which was formed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer earlier in the year to address Michigan’s demographic challenges.

Responding to a question by Currie about the role and history of state task forces in Michigan, Bosworth noted, “(Task forces highlight) the need for focusing on policy in specific areas.” She added, however, that in the “vast majority of them, we don’t get a whole lot of action items.”

As always, the question of money is central to the discussion, team members noted.

“It’s billions of dollars … to implement all of these recommendations in there,” Bosworth said, adding that the report “really doesn’t say ‘raise revenue here to put it there.’”

“I don’t know how hard it hits on what we do about (attracting and keeping young people), beyond throwing money at the problem,” argued Gibson.

“It was great to put all this information together,” Bosworth said. “The major theme is that we have stopped investing in our state.

“We are 25 percent below the revenue we were collecting in our state General Fund from 2000. How are we going to fund all of our infrastructure if we are not collecting that much revenue?”

Council documents include:

Full council report (86 pages)
Executive summary (6 pages)

View the full video of the episode, recorded Dec. 19, 2023, by clicking here.

Previous episodes can be seen at MAC’s YouTube Channel.

And you always can find details about Podcast 83 on the MAC website.

MAC sets office hours for holiday break

MAC’s Lansing offices will be closed on the following dates to observe holidays:

Friday, Dec. 22: Closing at noon for staff event.

Monday, Dec. 25: Closed.
Tuesday, Dec. 26: Closed.
Friday, Dec. 29: Closed.
Monday, Jan. 1: Closed.

If you have any questions or service requests between now and Jan. 2, please call 517-372-5374.

Legislative Update taking holiday hiatus

Today is the last edition of MAC’s “Legislative Update” for calendar 2023.

To see any 2023 edition of Legislative Update, visit the News section of MAC’s website.

Normal posting of the email will resume on Friday, Jan. 12.

Apply for the 2024 NACo Achievement Awards

Since 1970, the NACo Achievement Awards have recognized outstanding county government programs and services. Through a non-competitive application process, noteworthy programs receive awards in 18 categories that cover a vast range of county responsibilities.

In 2023, five Michigan counties received NACo awards.

If you are ready to begin your application, click here to access the application portal. In addition, you can use the portal to view, edit and submit previously saved applications.

Only county governments and state associations of counties are eligible to submit applications. There is no limit to the number of applications that can be submitted by a single county. Regional partners are welcome to submit applications for a collective project; however, the associated county or state association must submit the application on the group’s behalf.

For more information on the program, click here.