This week, the Senate Local Government Committee took testimony on SB 394 S-1 (SB 394 S-1).  This legislation folds townships into the mix of those local communities who qualify for the act, clarifies that inspection programs are optional at the local level, and states a rental inspection fee cannot be required to be paid more than 6 months prior to the actual inspection.

In the past, this issue has been very contentious.  This session we worked closely with the Rental Property Owners Association (RPOA) and the Apartment Association of Michigan (AAM) to come to a solution that addressed some of their issues but also didn’t jeopardize current local programs or create a one size fits all program from the state.  Because of this, we were able to take a position of support on this legislation.

We appreciate Sen. Robertson and his staff for allowing us to work through this process.  I would also like to thank RPOA and the AAM for their willingness to sit down with us and discuss this really important issue. We look forward to continuing to work with these organizations in the future.

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

The House Local Government Committee continued with presentations on Tax Increment Financing this week.  The League testified in regards to the importance of these types of economic development tools and their role in revitalizing not only local economies but economics surrounding it.  The lack of reporting compliance is continual discussed by many legislators and state departments.  The League discussed the importance of reporting compliance but also discussed some of the duplicity when it comes to reporting to the state that is currently happening with TIFs and that is causing confusion among many local units.  The Michigan Townships Association as well as the Michigan Downtown Association also testified in support of these tools.

There will be additional presentations next week.  Currently, there is not legislation introduced.

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

This week, the Michigan House of Representatives passed the three bill package regulating Medical Marihuana.  A few changes were made on the House floor to gain the necessary votes to pass the package.

One of those changes is the annual registration fee cap a local can charge to assist in covering the additional costs to the community for having that type of activity within the community was increased from $1,000 to $5,000.

Additionally, the 8% excise tax that was in place as the bills passed out of committee was lowered to 3% with the distribution percentages changing (45% to counties and sheriffs, 30% to locals, and 25$ to the state).  Language was also added in stating if marihuana becomes legalized at some point in the future, the 3% excise tax will be eliminated on the medical marihuana.

The bills now move onto the Senate for additional work as it moves through the process.

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

This week the House Local Government Committee chaired by Rep. Lee Chatifield (R – Levering) began taking testimony on Tax Increment Financing authorities. The goal of each presentation, as requested by the chair, is to provide input as to what each stakeholder organization feels needs to be changed through legislation as well as what would be problematic.

This week, the Department of Treasury as well as the Department of Talent and Economic Growth provided testimony on what TIFs are, lack of reporting concerns, concern regarding the duration of some authorities, and reform efforts last session.  The Michigan Association of Counties testified regarding some of misuses and concerns they have including opt out of pre-1994 DDAs and resetting of baselines after so many years among others.

The League will be testifying next week along with a few other stakeholder organizations.

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

Three bills creating a medical marihuana regulatory framework passed out of the House Judiciary committee this week, HB 4209, HB 4210 and HB 4827.  HB 4209 (Rep. Callton) provides for state and local regulations of medical marihuana provisioning centers/dispensaries.  HB 4210 (Rep. Lyons) allows for and regulates marihuana infused products.  HB 4827 provides for a seed-to-sale tracking system within the state.

There are still outstanding issues that need to be addressed as this legislation continues through the process but this week’s action is one step in the process of moving the legislation forward.

The League has been active on this issue with the bill sponsors in addressing local concerns such as keeping local control intact, addressing the funding mechanism as well as others.  We appreciate the ability to be involved in the process and look forward to continuing that work in the next few months.

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

The United States Senate appears to be making the first move in avoiding a federal government shutdown this Friday, with Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss) introducing a Continuing Resolution that would fund the government through December 11, 2015. This is being done, allegedly, to provide time for Republican leaders to negotiate a larger budget deal which might include trade-offs on the debt ceiling, long term transportation funding and other issues by the end of the year. This week, Republican leaders in both the House and the Senate stated they hope to negotiate directly with President Obama, rather than Democratic leaders in Congress over the course of the next few weeks to come to a resolution on these significant looming issues.

Summer Minnick is the Director of External Relations and Federal Affairs. She can be reached at 517-908-0301.

Get more involved in shaping federal advocacy efforts by applying to serve on one of the National League of Cities’ advocacy committees! There are seven federal advocacy committees and you must be from an NLC member city to serve. In addition, the Chairs of the Committees will serve as a member of the Board of Trustees for the NLC during their term (this is different from prior years). The applications are online and can be found here. They are due by October 14th so apply today! If you have any questions about this process, please don’t hesitate to contact Summer Minnick at 517-908-0301 or sminnick@mml.org.

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

In many communities around the state it has been common practice for years to have either privatized some function of the building department or shared those duties with neighboring municipalities. Last month, the Attorney General released an opinion stating the building official must be directly employed by a municipality so as to keep the policing powers within the local unit of government (opinion here: http://www.ag.state.mi.us/opinion/datafiles/2010s/op10364.htm).  After a meeting with the Attorney General’s office, it is clear their interpretation of the law is building inspectors can be employed by a third party but the building official themselves must be directly employed by the municipality and not by contract or arrangement with a third party or other unit of government.

This calls into question not only third party contracts but also arrangements between municipalities where the building official is not the direct employee of each entity. In many situations the building official is shared amongst multiple jurisdictions but employed by only 1 of those municipalities.

We are heavily involved in this issue and have requested the following feedback from each community to provide as much data as possible as we look for possible solutions to this problem:

1. How is your building official employed (through the community directly, through a third party, through an authority, shared with a neighboring municipality)?
2. If through an authority, what is the name of that authority and who operates the authority?
3. If through a third party, which company?
4. If shared among municipalities, with whom and which municipality employs that building official?

If your community is negatively impacted by this opinion, I would encourage you to reach out to your legislator and convey to them the impact this would have on your building department operations and the potential to increase costs in your budget.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or feedback on this issue.

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

Despite the Senate working many days to iron out various amendments before passing a six year transportation authorization bill (three years of which were funded under the plan), in the end, local communities are handed another short term extension. The House essentially refused to consider a long term bill and argued that there was not enough time to negotiate differences. Part of this included a non-transportation issue: the Export-Import bank reauthorization which the Senate supported and attached to the transportation bill. So the House sent the Senate a short term extension, funding transportation through October 29th, 2015. This means the debate will begin again within a few weeks. One very positive note in this effort is that both Senators Peters and Stabenow signed on to the Wicker-Booker amendment, which would have sent more money directly to locals. We’re hopeful the significant support that was displayed on that amendment will translate into inclusion during the next round of bill drafting. And we are thankful to our Senators for their support of local governments!

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

The United States Senate worked through the weekend on the six year authorization bill that would be the longest federal transportation bill the nation has seen in decades. But as it nears completion by the upper chamber, the House leadership has stated that they will not take up the Senate bill, and are encouraging the Senate to instead, take up the House passed extension. The House sent over a temporary extension this month which funds federal highway programs through December 18th. The current authorization expired this Friday, July 31st.

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