Legislative Update 9-4-20
Key trial court costs bill to become law
Legislation to extend the authority of trial courts to levy costs to defendants will soon be law, after the Senate this week approved House Bill 5488 and sent it to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her expected signature.
The bill, a major priority for MAC in 2020, extends cost authority to Oct. 1, 2022. Without the legislation, by Rep. Sarah Lightner (R-Jackson), county courts would have lost this source of funding for operational needs in a few weeks. The final Senate vote on HB 5488 was 29-8, with all “no” votes from Democratic senators.
The state’s Trial Court Funding Commission has said court costs “directly account for as high as $291 million annually in support (most of the 26.2 percent generated). Additionally, approximately $127 million of the annual funds transferred from the State originate from court assessments at sentencing. When totaled, Michigan trial courts are supported, in significant part, by over $418 million assessed to criminal defendants.”
Of course, the work on this issue is far from over. The new deadline is just two years way, and the next phase will be to finally solve the long-standing problem of a stable court funding system. MAC stands ready to continue the work with the Legislature to help streamline and improve the overall system. While a variety of reforms are needed, a key one is to rebalance state and local funds in the court system, as reported by the Trial Court Funding Commission.
For more information on this issue, contact Meghann Keit at keit@micounties.org.
Nursing home report: Create more aid for staff, look to ‘recovery centers’
A new report on combating COVID-19 in Michigan’s nursing homes has 28 recommendations, including an emphasis on training and support for frontline care workers and the replacement of the state’s current regional “hubs” for COVID-positive nursing home residents with “care and recovery centers.”
The report came from a gubernatorial task force which has been meeting twice a week this summer. Renee Beniak, executive director of the Michigan County Medical Care Facilities Council (MCMCFC), chaired the task force’s staffing work group. She called nursing assistants’ jobs, which involve the most interaction with residents, “one of the most difficult. To take good care of the residents and do the best job possible, I think the staff have to be happy and fulfilled and not overwhelmed and burn out.”
MCMCFC represents 34 county-owned facilities scattered across the state from the western Upper Peninsula to Macomb County.
Next local finance webinar is Sept. 8; register today
The seventh in an ongoing series of webinars co-sponsored by MAC and the Michigan Treasury will be held on Sept. 8, starting at 2 p.m.
County leaders can sign up now for the webinar, which will include an update on state budget process and the CARES Act programs, information about local government unclaimed property.
Each webinar is limited to 1,000 attendees. Participants are strongly encouraged to register early.
Treasury also has developed a webpage with numbered letters, memorandums, webinars, and resources regarding COVID-19 updates for local governments and school districts. This webpage was created to ensure that Michigan communities have access to the most up-to-date guidance and is updated frequently with information and resources as they become available.
For the latest updates, please review the COVID-19 Updates for Local Governments and School Districts’ webpage.
State launches health IT input campaign
A new effort by the state Health and Human Services Department (DHHS) to create a “roadmap” for health information technology will include a series of 16 virtual engagement sessions on a variety of topics such as care coordination, racial disparities in health, coronavirus response, and behavioral health. The sessions get under way on Sept. 15 and will continue into November.
“These sessions will provide an opportunity to collect input from stakeholders across Michigan on using data from health IT systems to address business needs as well as the needs of individuals they serve,” the department stated.
For more information, visit the MDHHS Health IT Commission web page.
Staff picks
- Election officials: ‘Flatten the curve,’ avoid backups amidst pandemic (naco.org)
- In views of U.S. democracy, widening partisan divides over freedom to peacefully protest (Pew Research)
- Our American States – a podcast (National Conference of State Legislatures)
- The case for making virtual public meetings permanent (Governing.com)
