The House Commerce Committee took testimony today on HB 5430 (Rep. Jenkins, R- Clayton), a bill to create a securities regulation advisory board within the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA).  As introduced, this board would be made up business professionals appointed by the Governor, Senate Majority Leader and Speaker of the House.  The function of the board would be to advise the securities commissioner in LARA on issues surrounding securities.  This is as an extension of the Michigan Invests Locally Exemption legislation or MILE that became law earlier this year enabling intrastate crowd funding and further assists small businesses throughout the state to prosper and grow.  Having a mechanism such as this in place for efficient, organized, and expertized oversight of the new MILE program can help to ensure these small businesses are utilizing all proper ways of accessing and raising capital through the law.

There were some concerns from committee members over the board composition and lack of staggered terms.  Rep. Jenkins expressed her willingness to look into those issues and address them where possible. The chair indicated this could be back up in committee as early as next week.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues.  She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.