Category Archives: Legislative Link Articles

Aviation Fuel Bills Pass the House, Local Revenue Protected

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The Michigan House of Representative passed three pieces of legislation changing the way aviation fuel tax is collected. The Michigan Municipal League advocated that local communities revenue not be impacted by this change and that protection of their funding remain tied to the constitution and not an appropriation. Under the House passed version local revenue has been protected

HB4571, sponsored by Rep. Wayne Schmidt (R-Traverse City), would change the current excise tax on aviation fuel from 3 cents per gallon to 2 percent of the average wholesale price on each gallon. The change would allow the tax to fluctuate with the price of fuel.

HB 4572, also sponsored by Schmidt, exempts aviation fuel from one-third of the sales tax. It will still be subject to 4% sales tax under the constitution protecting revenue that is shared with local communities

HB 4677, sponsored by Rep. Phil Potvin (R-Cadillac), would backfill money that the School Aid Fund would lose, by shifting some sales tax revenue from the General Fund to the School Aid Fund.

John LaMacchia is a Legislative Associate for the League handling transportation and infrastructure issues. He can be reached at jlamacchia@mml.org or 517-908-0303.

Report Shows More Biking, Public Transit Use In Three Michigan Cities

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 A first-of-its-kind report by PIRGIM Education Fund shows reduced rates of car commuting in Michigan’s urbanized areas—including Grand Rapids, Detroit and Flint—and greater use of public transit and biking, especially in Grand Rapids.

The report, “Transportation in Transition: A Look at Changing Travel Patterns in America’s Biggest Cities,” is based on the most current available government data. It is the first ever national study to compare transportation trends for America’s largest cities. Among its findings:                                                       

·         The proportion of workers commuting by private vehicle—either alone or in a carpool—declined in 99 out of 100 of America’s most populous urbanized areas between 2000 and the 2007-2011 period.

·         The percent of workers commuting by private vehicle in the Grand Rapids urbanized area fell almost 2 percent between 2000 and the 2007 to 2011 period—the 39th largest reduction out of the 100 largest urbanized areas in the U.S.

·         Detroit saw a 0.1% increase in workers who biked to work during the same period of time, ranking 59th out of the 100 urbanized areas studied in the report.

·         The number of passenger miles travelled on transit per capita increased 12.5 percent in Detroit between 2005 and 2010. In Grand Rapids, transit passenger miles per person increased by over 50%—the 7th largest percentage increase among the 100 largest urban areas in that category. Measured in terms of the number of trips taken on public transit per-capita, Grand Rapids witnessed a 51.2 percent increase from 2005 to 2010. Flint ranked 10th in increased passenger trips per-capita out of the 100 areas studied, with a 31.1 percent increase between 2005 and 2010.

·         The proportion of commuters travelling by bicycle grew in Flint, Detroit, and Grand Rapids between 2000 and 2010, as it did in 82 of the other 100 most populous urbanized areas.

·         The proportion of households without a car increased 2.9 percent in the Grand Rapids urbanized area between 2006 and 2011. This proportion fell in 84 of the largest 100 urbanized areas. Likewise, the proportion of households with two or more vehicles fell in 86 out the 100 most populous urbanized areas during this period, including Flint, where it fell 3.8 percent.

·         The proportion of residents working out of their home increased in all 100 of America’s most populous urbanized areas between 2000 and 2010, including in Grand Rapids, which had the 35th steepest increase among that group.

The study found that cities with the largest decreases in driving were not those hit hardest by the recession. On the contrary, the economies of urbanized areas with the largest declines in driving appear to have been less affected by the recession according to unemployment, income and poverty indicators. 

Across the nation, young people have shown the steepest reductions in driving. Americans 16 to 34 years of age reduced their average driving miles by 23 percent between 2001 and 2009.

John LaMacchia is a Legislative Associate for the League Handling Transportation and Infrastructure issues. He can be reached at jlamacchia@mml.org or 517-908-0303.

 

Michigan Downtown Association to hold Workshop February 27

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The Michigan Downtown Association’s (MDA) first workshop of 2014, “DDA’s – One of the Original Placemakers – Controlling Our Own Destiny,” is on Feb. 27 at the Radisson Hotel in Lansing.  MDA members may begin reserving rooms at the Radisson Hotel Lansing at the Capitol for a special rate of $118.95. Overnight parking is only $5. Visit http://www.radisson.com/lansing-hotel-mi-48933/lansing or call 517.482.0188 and mention group code 1402MIDOAS.

For questions or more information, contact the MDA at info@michigandowntowns.com or call 248-838-9711.

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.

Angled Parking Legislation Passes the House Unanimously

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The Michigan House of Representative, by a unanimous vote of 110-0, sent HB 5073 to the Senate. This bill would allow MDOT to approved angled parking on state trunklines at the request of a local municipality. The Michigan Municipal League would like to thank Rep. Peter Pettalia for sponsoring this legislation and his commitment to moving it through the House. We look forward to his continued support as we work with Sen. Tom Casperson, Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, in the hopes of getting this bill to the governors desk before the end of the year.

John LaMacchia is a Legislative Associate for the League handling transportation and infrastructure issues. He can be reached at jlamacchia@mml.org or 517-908-0303.

FOIA Bill Passes Out of House Committee

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The House Oversight committee passed out HB 4001, the bill making many changes to FOIA. The substitute that was adopted can be viewed here: HB 4001 H-2.  While the substitute has improved from the introduced version, the League still has concerns and is opposed to this legislation.  The League along with two attorneys for the city of Ann Arbor were prepared to offer testimony with our concerns but the bill was passed out of committee with no testimony taken.

We do appreciate the opportunity we had to be involved in the workgroup held early in July and are pleased to see there is now an internal appeal process that must be exhausted (if the municipality offers an internal process) prior to commencing an action in the courts to try and resolve any disputes.  Additionally, we do appreciate the time and labor calculations are now to be made on a total sum basis instead of individually broken out into the multiple new invoice categories as in a previous version.

However, Governmental entities are still not able to recover the true cost of the FOIA request, one of our existing concerns with the legislation.  The legislation specifically states benefits are not to be used in calculating the cost of FOIA.  Medical insurance and other benefits are a large portion of a person’s hourly labor cost.  Local municipalities do not stop providing an employee’s benefits while they are working on these requests.  Not being allowed to recover the true cost means every other tax payer in the municipality is now subsidizing the request.  Additionally, the language still states that all partial time increments when calculating labor costs must be rounded down, again, not allowing for the true cost of the request to be recovered.

Rep. Jim Townsend offered up a handful of amendments, two of them (clarification pieces) were accepted.  One that he offered would have allowed a municipality to include benefits when calculating the labor charges but that was voted down.

The League will continue, with the help from the municipal attorneys who have been so gracious in providing their feedback and assistance on this, to work on this issue to make sure as many of our concerns are addressed as possible.

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

MDOT Letter Regarding Annual Certification of Employee-Related Conditions

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Over the past few weeks many members have received a letter from the Michigan Department of Transportation about complying with section 18j of Public Act 51 (MCL 247.668j). A copy of the letter can be found here. Act 51 Letter

The League became aware of this letter when a member brought it to our attention and it has come up multiple times since then. We have spoken with Lori Cole at MDOT and the Legislative Liaison for the department to make them aware of our concerns. Based on the conversation that we had with Lori, she understands there are some issues that need to be looked at and possibly corrected. She stated that it is not the departments intention to have the unintended consequence of withholding Act 51 road dollars because of the potential lack of clarity within the statute. Specifically I spoke with the department about clarifying the language about being in compliance with healthcare cost savings requirements and its interaction with PA 152, the creation of a webpage, and the need to better define transportation worker.

Our goal is to address these issues with the department to protect our Act 51 road dollars and not have our communities go through a similar process that they are already going through with EVIP. Providing that information to the State once should be enough and their departments should share it with each other. Very likely this will require further legislation to achieve these goals but it is an issue that we are engaged in and are pushing for action on in the near future.

John LaMacchia is a Legislative Associate for the League handling transportation and infrastructure issues. He can be reached at jlamacchia@mml.org or 517-908-0303.

 

 

Tenant Responsibility Legislation Receives Hearing

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HB 5037, a bill to require local inspectors hold tenants responsible for violations that occur in the area that is under their control received a hearing in the House Local Government committee last week.  This legislation would also state that liens and other sanctions shall not be added onto the property for those violations that occur in the area that is under the tenant’s control.  The League testified in opposition to this piece of legislation along with municipal officials from Fenton, East Lansing and Jackson.  We look forward to working with the sponsor of the bill and his staff to provide feedback on any potential amendments as the process moves forward.

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

National Brownfield Association Nov 13 Event Registration Now Open

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On November 13, 2013, the Michigan Chapter of the National Brownfield Association is presenting a program on the newest developments on brownfield issues in Michigan. The program will be held at the Lansing Center, 333 E. Michigan Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933.

Program speakers will include representatives of both the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Environmental Quality. The presenters will discuss proposed legislative and policy developments that affect the CRP program and Act 381; new MDEQ policies on grants and loans; MDEQ guidelines and anticipated developments on vapor intrusion; ASTM standards on continuing obligations and Phase I ESAs; environmental insurance products used in Michigan transactions; legislative and other policy updates under Part 201, including NFAs and certificates of completion; and an update from the RACER Trust.

There will also be a case study that describes the successful use of brownfield tools in Michigan for the Accident Fund project in Lansing and the Downtown Market project in Grand Rapids. Finally, the Chair of the Board of the National Brownfield Association will provide an update on activities at the national level.

A complete agenda can be found here. Registration is $50 for NBA members, $125 for non-members, and $75 for non-members who are government employees. Registration space is limited to the first 100 who register. The program will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on November 13, with registration commencing at 8:00 a.m. Additional information regarding registration can be found here.

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

Legislation Allowing Angled Parking on State Trunklines Passes Committee

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Currently state statute prohibits angled parking on state trunklines in Michigan. As more and more communities look to reinvent their downtown’s there is a great need for flexibility to help create vibrant and livable spaces. Many of our cities and villages across Michigan have state trunklines that are a main street through their downtown. HB 5073 would allow a municipality to work with MDOT and receive authorization to have angled parking on a trunkline.

The need to change this statue was brought to us by the City of West Branch. This bill is being sponsored by Representative Pettalia in the House and Senator Casperson in the Senate. With support from the League and  MDOT, the bill was unanimously voted out of House Transportation Committee. We are appreciate of the efforts of these sponsors and look forward to working with them to continue moving this bill forward.

John LaMacchia is a Legislative Associate for the League handling transportation and infrastructure issues. He can be reached at jlamacchia@mml.org or 517-908-0303.

House Local Government Committee Takes Testimony on Sewer Tap-In Fee Legislation

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HB 4494 sponsored by Representative Joe Graves was taken up for testimony in House Local Government Committee. This bill would limit a municipalities ability to retroactively charge a sewer tap-in fee to two years from the time a building permit is issued. The Michigan Municipal League has some serious concerns with this legislation and is discussing potential changes with the sponsor. During committee, along with the City of Linden, we expressed our concerns and opposition to the bill as introduced.

John LaMacchia is a Legislative Associate for the League handling transportation and infrastructure issues. He can be reached at jlamacchia@mml.org or 517-908-0303.