MAC urges commissioners to contact congressional Republicans on BASICS Act
MAC is urging county commissioners to write today to respectfully request their congressional representative to cosponsor H.R. 7437, the Bridges And Safety Infrastructure for Community Success (BASICS) Act. This bipartisan legislation ― developed with strong input from counties and other local government groups ― would improve Michigan counties’ access to federal formula funding for important road, bridge and multimodal projects in their communities. MAC has shared a letter with Michigan’s republican congressional delegation.
Michigan’s 83 counties play a vital role in our transportation system, owning and maintaining over 73 percent of road miles and over 51 percent of bridges. Federal dollars can help support this work ― especially for regionally significant projects, bridge projects and safety projects ― but counties currently struggle to access federal funds. Approximately 90 percent of federal transportation funding moves through formula programs administered by the Federal Highway Administration to state departments of transportation, but analysis shows that counties and other local governments only receive roughly 15 percent of these funds.
The BASICS Act would increase the share of federal formula dollars that are “suballocated,” or made available to regional planning organizations to advance locally selected projects ― including county projects. Importantly, this would include ensuring suballocation of funding for use on bridge projects and safety projects. Additionally, the bill makes key process reforms to better enable counties ― especially rural counties ― to access suballocated dollars by providing greater funding and authorities to metropolitan and regional/rural transportation planning organizations alike. And in rural areas without a regional/rural transportation planning organization, the BASICS Act would let statewide associations like MAC serve as a convener to facilitate collaboration between the state departments of transportation and counties to select and advance projects.
For more information on this issue, contact Samantha Gibson at gibson@micounties.org.
Rep. Lightner discusses court funding, more in new ‘Legislator Spotlight’ episode of Podcast 83
Rep. Sarah Lightner, a former Jackson County commissioner and leading voice in the Republican majority in the Michigan House, recently joined Podcast 83 for a “Legislator Spotlight” to discuss court funding, the state budget and more.
Asked about her legislation to eliminate the current expiration for court authority to levy fees on defendants, Lightner said:
“This is nothing new. It’s a fight we have to have every about two years, in regard to collecting costs from defendants. … And to eliminate that (authority) would be counterproductive … (T)o me, the courts are a pay-to-play. You know, you screw up, you should pay for it. I shouldn’t have to pay for 100 percent of your stupidity.
“(S)o that’s one issue of why I continue to do the costs. The other is, I mean, you ultimately have to provide judicial services to your constituency. And it’s funny you bring up core funding. I actually had the (state court administrator) and legal counsel in my office for about an hour yesterday, going over some of this, and then talking about actually eliminating the sunset, because the current bill I have actually eliminates it rather than extending it, because to me, it’s one thing that judges already have judicial discretion to get rid of it, right? For individuals. But I don’t think it’s necessary for us to continue to keep coming back every couple of years to the Legislature and ask, ‘Oh, can we keep collecting costs?’” Lightner continued.
“I think it’s absolutely absurd that just because you’re in a different region of the state, an arraignment would cost three times more than it does in Ingham County, or Jackson County, or Calhoun County.”
Lightner also discussed the magnitude of expected cuts in the state’s fiscal 2027 budget, which legislators will resume their work on after their spring break ends April 14.
For details, view the full episode, recorded on March 4, by clicking here or on the image above.
Application period is open for millions in federal transport funding
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has posted the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program.
Nearly $1 billion is available for SS4A that provides funding for planning, infrastructure, behavioral and operational initiatives to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries.
Eligible applicants include local governments, metropolitan planning organizations (MPO), federally recognized Tribal governments, and multijurisdictional groups of entities made up of these.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan) has provided an opportunity for applicants to request a letter of support from him. Please follow this link for your request: Sen Peters grant letter of support request form.
The SS4A program provides funding for two main types of grants:
- Planning and Demonstration Grants are used to develop, complete,or supplement an Action Plan, as well as carry out demonstration activities that inform an Action Plan.
- Implementation Grants are used to implement strategies or projects that are consistent with an existing Action Plan and may also bundle funding requests for supplemental planning and demonstration activities that inform the Action Plan.
The NOFO is posted on Grants.gov; you may also view the NOFO on the SS4A Website. The deadline for applications is May 26 at 5 p.m. (ET).
Webinars for assistance
USDOT is offering webinars on April 7, 9 and 14 to provide more information. Attendees must register in advance.
- April 7: Register to attend the April 7 webinar.
- April 9: Register to attend the April 9 webinar.
- April 14: Register to attend the April 14 webinar.
Please see the SS4A Webinar Series page for more details. For questions, please contact us at SS4A@dot.gov.
NACo webinar to tackle information security in April 8 webinar
Public sector AI adoption is caught in a “regulatory paradox”: a strong push for rapid innovation occurring alongside a lack of clear roadmaps and regulations for information safety. Data privacy regulations remain in full force.
For government information owners, the burden of responsibility for information governance has landed squarely on your shoulders. To innovate and modernize while keeping your information safe, you need a responsible information governance model that ensures only high-quality, compliant data is available for AI tools.
During this session, we’ll explore the four immediate steps you can take to ensure your agency’s AI adoption is secure, compliant and trustworthy:
- Enforcing information minimization
- Implementing “need-to-keep” retention policies for AI tools
- Demanding privacy-preserving information architectures
- The importance of keeping a human in the loop
Please participate in MAC’s 2025-2026 Opioid Settlement County Reporting Survey
The Michigan Association of Counties invites you to participate in a survey intended to capture annual reporting information on county opioid settlement funds.
The survey opened on March 30 and will close on May 8. To participate, click here.
Your participation is not required but is appreciated. The survey allows MAC to:
- Update the Opioid Settlement Resource Center dashboard
- Understand annual reporting information on the planning for, and utilization of, opioid settlement funds
- Provide useful technical assistance for counties
Thank you for sharing your experience. Please reach out to dolinky@micounties.org with any questions.
County officials invited to 2026 Michigan Environmental Compliance Conference
Counties play a critical role in protecting Michigan’s environment — and staying current on evolving regulations is essential. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) invites county officials, public works teams and environmental staff to the 2026 Michigan Environmental Compliance Conference (MECC) on June 9-10 at the Lansing Center in downtown Lansing.
The two‑day event includes more than 70 sessions covering water, waste, air quality, emergency management, solid waste planning, and emerging issues like PFAS and climate resilience. Attendees can meet directly with EGLE experts, learn best practices from communities across the state, and earn continuing education credits.
Registration
- Two‑day conference for local government: $200
- One‑day registration for local government: $145
View the full agenda and register at Michigan.gov/MECC.
Staff picks
- Providers face ‘extreme shortage’ of paramedics, EMTs in rural Michigan (Bridge Michigan)
- Should Michigan bury power lines after back-to-back years of ice storms? (Interlochen Public Radio)
- As Michigan’s childcare costs rise, workers debate risks of unionizing (Detroit Free Press)
- How a massive KitKat heist turned into crisis PR gold (Wall Street Journal)