Category Archives: Legislative Link Articles

The House Passes Legislation Allowing Golf Carts on Local Roads

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This week House passed HB 5045 by vote of 103-5. This bill would allow a local unit of government to pass an ordinance that would allow golf carts on roads under their jurisdiction. The following requirements must be met.

  • Must have a population less that 30,000
  • The operator must be at least 16 years of age and have a valid drivers license
  • The golf cart must be operated on the far right side of the roadway
  • You can only operate the golf cart between a half hour after sunrise and a half hour before sunset
  • Drivers must use hand signals to indicate turning and stopping

    • The golf cart cannot exceed 15 mph and can not operate on a road with a speed limit of more than 30 mph

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

2014 World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems Coming to Detroit

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ITS America, in partnership with ERTICO and ITS Asia-Pacific, is excited to welcome you to Detroit this September 7-11 for the 2014 World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems. America’s Motor City is the perfect backdrop for the fantastic exhibitions hosted on our more than 300,000 sq. ft of show floor at the Cobo Center, the interactive demonstrations of the groundbreaking innovations in our Technology Showcase, the more than 250 riveting programmatic panels, roundtables, and interactive town hall sessions, as well as numerous networking events with an expected 10,000 transportation and technology leaders from around the world.

For more information on how to register please click here.

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.

EPA extends Comment Period for Proposed “Waters of the U.S.” Rule

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced they are extending the deadline for comments regarding their proposed “Waters of the U.S.” rule until October 20th. The proposed rule would change the definition of “Waters of the U.S.” in the Clean Water Act, which determines jurisdiction of water bodies under the CWA, impacting permitting and other CWA requirements.

Under the proposed rule, all tributaries and adjacent waters would  be considered jurisdictional, as well as “other waters” that would have to meet a “significant nexus” threshold in order to fall into that category as well.  There are other changes that you can find by going to the National League of Cities resource page here and scrolling down to the Clean Water Act portion.

Communities can submit comments for this rule, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0880 online by clicking here or by emailing ow-docket@epa.gov and including EPA-HQ-OW-2011-0880 in the subject line of the message.

Summer Minnick is the Director of Policy Initiatives and Federal Affairs. She can be reached at 517-908-0301 or sminnick@mml.org.

Transportation Budget Includes Additional One-Time Funding for Local Roads

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Although the legislature was unable to come up with a comprehensive solution to fix Michigan’s transportation system, next years transportation budget includes an additional $144.5 million in one-time funding for roads. As a result cities and villages across this state will receive $31.5 million. Based on the boilerplate language in the bill, the money will be spread out over equal payments throughout the year and not come as a lump sum payment at the beginning of the fiscal year. An estimated breakdown of what each community will receive can be found below.

Estimated Calculation of $144.5 million FY15

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

2016 Local Safety Program

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The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is pleased to announce the solicitation of new applications for the fiscal year (FY) 2016 Local Safety Program. Federal funds for the Local Safety Program are to be used for highway safety improvements on the local roadway system. All locally controlled roadways, regardless of National Functional Classification, are eligible for the Local Safety Program. The FY 2016 federal budget for this program is estimated at $15,000,000. This amount may be subject to revisions based on approval of the future federal highway bill. Local agencies may submit more than one project application for consideration. Federal safety funds shall not exceed $600,000 per project or a maximum amount of $2,000,000 per Local Agency for the fiscal year. FY 2016 projects are to be developed and obligated between October 1, 2015, and August 26, 2016. For more detail please click here. 2016 Federal Local Safety Program

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

Senate Fails to Pass Road Funding

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The Senate adjourned until July 16 after several failed attempts to provide additional road funding to fix Michigan’s infrastructure. Failing to act means our roads and bridges will continue to fall into greater disrepair. We will not only fail to maintain existing infrastructure but won’t be able to invest in additional infrastructure to attract and retain talented employees and job providers.

The League will be relentless in the pursuit of additional funding and we want to thank all of our members who have reached out and asked your legislators to support long-term sustainable solution. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed by those in Lansing.

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

Transportation Funding Hitting Road Blocks in the Senate

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The package of bills sent over by the House has hit a road block in the Senate. Democrats are arguing for protection of prevailing wage, the current electoral college system, and the need to provide tax relief for the working poor by reinstating the cuts made in 2011 to the Earned Income Tax Credit. Republican are not united in their approach as some members of their caucus want to raise the gas tax, other want to raise the sales tax, and still other want no new taxes. As this debate plays out some progress was made this week but much more needs to be done if comprehensive solution is going to be realized.

Talks are ongoing among legislative leaders. The League remains hopeful that the legislature will respond to the public outcry to fix Michigan transportation networks and act on the bills before them. We encourage you to reach out to the Senator and Representative from your area and encourage them to vote for a sustainable solution that will return Michigan to a state with strong infrastructure, reliable transit options, and thriving communities.

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

Transportation Budget Passes Conference Committee

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The transportation budget passed out of conference committee this week and did not include new revenue for transportation funding that reflects a comprehensive solution. SB 777 did include $144.5 million in one-time general fund money that would be distributed to MDOT, Counties, and cities and villages. Of the $144.5 million cities and villages will receive $31.5 million in additional funding for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2014. SB 777 also included $1.1 million for the Regional Transit Authority.

A significant amount of work continues to take place around finding a larger solution and the League remains hopeful the legislature will act before they leave for summer break.

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 Votes Out Legislation Allowing Golf Carts on Local Roads

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This week House Local Government Committee voted out HB 5045 that would allow a local unit of government to pass an ordinance that would allow golf carts on roads under their jurisdiction. The following requirements must be met.

  • Must have a population less that 30,000
  • The operator must be at least 16 years of age and have a valid drivers license
  • The golf cart must be operated on the far right side of the roadway
  • You can only operate the golf cart between a half hour after sunrise and a half hour before sunset
  • Drivers must use hand signals to indicate turning and stopping
  • The golf cart cannot exceed 15 mph and can not operate on a road with a speed limit of more than 30 mph

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

Senate Passes Repeal of Annual Certification to MDOT

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In December of 2012 Public Act 506 was enacted that required local road agencies to certify the the Michigan Department of Transportation that the had developed and publicized an employee compensation plan or were in compliance with with PA 152 of 2011. The law requires a local road agency to maintain a searchable website accessible by the public at no cost that includes the following: a) current fiscal year budget, b) the number of active transportation employees of the local road agency by job classification and wage rate, c) information on financial performance, d) the names and contact information for the governing body of the local road agency, and e) a copy of the certification mentioned above. Compliance with these provisions needs to take place no later than September 30, 2014.

The League has advocated that certifying to MDOT that we are in compliance with PA 152, which by law we are required to be in compliance with, is redundant, unnecessary, and an inefficient use of time. We have also advocated that the creation of another dashboard is unnecessary because of the public access to our current EVIP dashboards, F65 Forms, audits, and our comprehensive annual financial reports.

As a result Senator Casperson introduced SB 882 that would repeal the provisions section 18j for cities and villages. This bill was take up before the full Senate today and vote out with nearly unanimous support. This bill now moves to the House where we are hopeful that progress will continue to be made and these unnecessary requirements will be repealed before the implementation date of September 30, 2014.

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