MAC sees hopeful signs in Whitmer remarks on infrastructure, cooperation

The focus on infrastructure and bipartisanship in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2025 State of the State address this week drew praise from Michigan counties.

“We look forward to being a partner in the governor’s road discussion to ensure more money is coming to county roads. As the governor said tonight, ‘Let’s get back to the negotiating table in the coming days and weeks to find a long-term, bipartisan solution so we can fix more of those damn roads,’” said MAC Board President Melissa Daub, a Wayne County commissioner, in a statement released Wednesday night.

Also notable were the governor’s comments on efforts to attract and retain businesses and talent in Michigan, alongside increased funding and advocacy for men to pursue higher education and trade school opportunities through initiatives like the Michigan Reconnect program. Additionally, she voiced strong support for enhanced transparency in the state’s budget process, proposing that legislators publicly disclose their financial requests for their respective districts.

Although local and county government issues were not a major focal point of her address, the spirit of collaboration present in this legislative session, as reflected in the adoption of much-needed and MAC-supported changes in state law on the minimum wage and employee sick time rules, there is growing optimism for significant policy accomplishments in Lansing in 2025.

For details on MAC’s 2025 legislative priorities, click here.

For general information on MAC’s 2025 advocacy work, visit micounties.org or contact Governmental Affairs Director Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org.

Podcast 83 reviews sick time, MIDC legislation

Counties have new rules to contend with on sick time for employees, plus they may face accounting changes on state funding for indigent defense, explained MAC’s Podcast 83 team in its newest episode this week.

Beating a Feb. 21 deadline, the Legislature adopted substantial changes to state law on minimum wage and sick time rules. MAC’s Deena Bosworth explained the big news for counties is on sick time:

“A lot of (the sick time) debate was centered around the accrual method. How do they earn it? Who gets how many hours? What does it look like if we also offer vacation pay?

“Larger employers ― so every county ― have to give their employees 72 hours of paid sick time every year. Now, you can opt to front load it, so you can give them 72 hours right now, at the beginning of the year, and they can use it. But then they can’t carry it over, and you’re not obligated to pay it out,” Bosworth said.

“Or you can use the accrual method, which is, you earn one hour for every 30 hours worked, but then you will have the obligation of allowing carry forward and may end up paying it out at the end of the year. But it does give a lot more flexibility, especially for those employers and counties who combine paid time off and vacation time together.”

Meanwhile, the Legislature has begun work on bills that could alter how counties receive funds to provide indigent defense in local trial courts.

“(This legislation) is going to expand the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC),” said MAC’s new governmental affairs specialist, Jimmy Johnson. “In particular, it’s going to be requiring that they include indigent youth. …

“Another aspect of this legislation is that it would change the disbursement the counties are seeing right now through the MIDC. So, if you’re not familiar with it, there is a 50 percent payment, then a 25 percent and an additional 25 percent to get them to the 100,” he added. “What this bill would do is it would give them a 40 percent disbursement and then three subsequent 20 percent payments. … (W)e want to see that same disbursement stay in place of the 50 percent and then the two 25 percent amounts, just to ensure that our counties know exactly how the money is going to be coming in, and they’re not going to have to make any changes.”

Podcast host Stephan Currie closed this week’s episode with a preview of MAC’s Legislative Conference, set for April 7-9 in Lansing:

“We have a great line up there. We’ve got the governor somewhat confirmed as a speaker. … We’re going to have the executive director of National Association of Counties, Matt Chase, talking about what’s happening in Washington, D.C. … We will have some discussion on road funding and how far a dollar actually goes now in fixing our roads. And we’ve invited the Legislative Quadrant (top leaders) to come speak.”

To view the full episode, recorded on Feb. 25, click here.

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

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