Senate appropriations panel hears from MAC on juvenile justice reforms

Severe shortages in staffing and bed space are limiting the effects of juvenile justice reforms enacted last year, MAC told a Senate appropriations subcommittee this week.

Panel Chair Sen. Sylvia Santana (D-Wayne) convened a hearing to gauge the state of juvenile justice reform at the state and county level and determine the needs of counties and courts providing juvenile justice services.

MAC’s Samantha Gibson was among stakeholders who spoke to the struggles faced at the county level in providing care and support to youth in the justice system.

Among the reforms from enacted last year and now being implemented, the Child Care Fund reimbursement rate increase from 50 percent to 75 percent is most beneficial, Gibson told the panel, allowing courts and counties to expand on previously provided programs or possibly create new ones they could not fund prior to the increased reimbursement rate.

MAC once again called on legislators and the Department of Health and Human Services to assist in addressing the staffing shortage in juvenile detention facilities. More funding to counties is needed to boost staff wages and, in turn, promote more effective recruitment and retention efforts.

Additional hearings on this topic are expected in coming weeks.

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

Counties enjoy 90 percent success rate in millage elections

Michigan counties that asked their residents for revenue support this week achieved a 90 percent success rate, according to results collated by the Gongwer News Service.

Nineteen of 21 county-related millage requests (either renewals or increases) gained voter approval, a success rate of 90 percent, well above the overall rate of 83 percent for all millage elections this cycle.

Click here to see county results.

U.S. Department of Transportation Announces $1.25 billion in Direct, Accessible Grants for Local Communities to Improve Roadway Safety

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has opened the process for cities, towns, counties, Tribal governments, and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) to apply for $1.256 billion in funding for local projects that improve roadway safety. The funds are from the competitive grant program, Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A), which was created in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help communities both plan and carry out projects that help reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on our highways, streets, and roads. The SS4A grant program is a major action that supports funding to advance the DOT’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, which launched in 2022 to address the high number of traffic deaths happening across the country. 

SS4A funds will help communities in the development of road safety action plans and improve unsafe roadway corridors by implementing effective interventions. Additionally, these funds can be utilized to test out safety features such as separated bicycle lanes or curb extensions at intersections. 

“Every community knows some intersection or stretch of road that is dangerous to approach – now we have an opportunity to make them safer,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The Biden-Harris administration is proud to make over $1.2 billion available for projects that can save lives on our roads, from highway redesigns to protected bike lanes, and we invite communities of every size to apply.” 

Last year, DOT announced more than 1,000 communities in total received $1.7 billion in grants under SS4A, impacting roadway safety for around 70% of the nation’s population and over 60% of traffic fatalities that occurred between 2017 and 2021. With more than $1 billion available this year, the Department encourages all interested communities to apply, especially communities that have not applied to date. For Planning and Demonstration Grants, DOT has further encouraged communities with higher needs to apply by providing additional award consideration to those with higher fatality rates. The Department compiled a non-exhaustive list of the cities and counties that meet that threshold online and will continue to support the information needs of these localities throughout the application period.  

The application process for SS4A is designed to be as easy as possible and increased accessibility to this program in this latest funding round, particularly for smaller communities, Tribal governments and recipients new to Federal funding. This includes multiple deadlines and a longer application period for planning proposals, a pre-application review opportunity to determine eligibility before applying for implementation funding, and clarification about the use of Tribal Transportation Program funds as eligible for local match.  

Applications may come from individual communities or groups of communities and may include MPOs, counties, cities, towns, other special districts that are subdivisions of a state, certain transit agencies, federally recognized Tribal governments, and multijurisdictional groups of eligible applicants.  

The Safe Streets and Roads for All Notice of Funding Opportunity can be found at  https://www.transportation.gov/grants/SS4A. Applications for Implementation Grants are by May 16. Planning and demonstration grant applicants will have three opportunities to apply with the deadlines of April 4, May 16, and August 29.  

Podcast 83 talks with MSHDA head about Michigan housing crisis

FY25 budget year is off to good start for counties, Podcast 83 team says

Counties would see significant investments in key needs under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s fiscal 2025 state budget, MAC’s Podcast 83 team noted in a new episode.

However, new dollars for revenue sharing, juvenile justice and health care for some jail inmates still have to get through the legislative budget process, never a sure thing said team members.

Whitmer calls for $281.2 million for county revenue sharing, with increases set in a mix of unrestricted and restricted formats. If approved, this amount would represent a $26 million boost from the FY24 baseline amount.

Governmental Affairs Director Deena Bosworth cautioned that this amount is the starting point of budget talks. “We have to watch it through the entire process very, very closely,” she said.

The governor’s plan also did not reference the creation of a dedicated and secured Revenue Sharing Trust Fund, a MAC priority for 2024, but Bosworth said the progress made last year in the Legislature on that issue is a good sign for eventual passage.

“We’re starting to see some decent sized growth right now,” Bosworth said. “But we went back and looked at where county revenue sharing was in 2001. It was $228 million. This year, the recommendation, including the one-time funds as $281 million. If we just kept up with inflation (from 2001), we would be over $400 million for counties across the state.”

On the juvenile front, Samantha Gibson said, “We’ve discussed at length, especially on this podcast, the juvenile justice bed shortage crisis. In (this budget), we do see some significant funding suggestions to go towards resolving that bed shortage. There’s $38 million to kind of reconfigure how the (state) contracts with child caring institutions.”

Whitmer’s plans in the criminal justice sphere include a $30.5 million allotment to cover health services for jail inmates slated for release who would otherwise be eligible for federal Medicaid coverage. This amount would be in service of a state effort to get a so-called Section 1115 Re-entry Waiver from the federal government to relieve counties of health care costs they now bear due to the Medicaid Inmate Exclusion Policy.

Reform of that policy is a MAC priority for 2024, Gibson noted.

MAC was also pleased to see a $15 million allotment for stormwater improvements, said Madeline Fata.

Whitmer also seeks a 1,289 percent increase in the tipping fees to place waste in landfills, moving it from 36 cents to $5 per ton. “Gov. (Rick) Snyder recommended something similar back in 2018,” Fata said, “and he wasn’t able to get it across the finish line. With that increase, it would bring us up to par with other Midwestern states, as Michigan is currently the lowest with tipping fees.

“It would then deter out-of-state dumping, which is a problem that Michigan faces,” Fata added. “MAC does support mechanisms to deter out-of-state waste. Ultimately (the proposed increase) would generate about $80 million annually.”

For more coverage of the FY25 budget plan, see MAC’s Legislative Update from Feb. 9.

View the full video of the episode, recorded on Feb. 8, 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.