This morning the House Local Government Committee heard testimony on House Bills 4622 and 4793, bills that make some procedural changes to the Michigan Drain Code.

More specifically HB 4622 would modify the procedures for changing the boundaries of county drainage districts. It would modify the process by eliminating boards of determination and allowing review by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

House Bill 4793 deals with the taking of private property. It updates the statute to make it consistent with condemnation proceedings outlined in the Uniform Condemnation Procedures Act.

The committee did not vote on this legislation.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

Yesterday the House Appropriations Committee held testimony on HB 4785, a bill that would increase existing fees for licensing EMS personnel, vehicles and operations. This bill is part of the FY 2014 budget agreement, and the total increase anticipated (just over $1 million) has been built into the FY 2014 Department of Community Health budget.

The argument for the change is the fee increase is needed to maintain the current licensing and regulatory program for EMS. The bill would, however, increase costs for local EMS services.

According to an analysis by the House Fiscal Agency current fee rates were established in 1991. The analysis includes a chart tracking the proposed fee increases.

We have concerns about this increase in cost for our local EMS departments, and we are working with members to determine the impact of these fee increases to get that information to legislators.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

This morning the Senate unanimously passed HB 4743 a bill providing more local control on the use of fireworks passed the House following significant complaints from local units of government after last July 4.

The bill would require retail locations to post signs informing the public where to find the Fireworks Safety Act and copies of the local municipality’s ordinances regarding time limits for the use of the fireworks.

The bill also would require retailers to comply with the National Fire Protection Association Code, and clarify that a retailer or a person issued a consumer fireworks certificate is responsible for remitting all fireworks safety fees to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. It would also require retailers to remit the fees within 20 days after the end of each month.

The bill would allow municipalities to regulate the use of fireworks within counties of 750,000 or more persons to 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. on New Year’s Day only, for all other days surrounding national holidays the hours are 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. For municipalities within counties with a population fewer than 750,000 ordinances can be enacted regulating the times of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. on the day before, the day after and the day of national holidays.

The bill is now on its way to the Governor for his signature.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

Today the House passed SB 79, a bill to allow small wine makers (making less than 5,000 gallons of wine per year) to sell and provide tastings at local farmers markets.  A new “farmers market permit” is created that the small wine maker must obtain from the liquor control commission.  A small wine maker would have to obtain approval from the farmers market manager and the local police department prior to a permit being issued.

The permits are subject to the quota system.  There will be one farmers market permit allowed for every 1500 population in the county.

There is a 60 day implementation period from signage of the bill to allow the Michigan Liquor Control Commission to get all the necessary paperwork around before it goes into effect.  There is also a 2 year reporting requirement for the liquor control commission to provide an assessment to the legislature on the effectiveness of these permits and whether they should continue to issue them.

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.

This morning the House Regulatory Reform Committee continued hearing testimony on a package of legislation that would crack down on scrap metal dealers to limit scrap metal theft.

House Bills 4593-95 were introduced to the committee. The bills seek to close “loopholes” in the current scrap metal laws by requiring dealers to keep more detailed records including information of individuals who remit scrap metal as well as a photograph of purchased scrap metal.

In addition the legislation strengthens the “do not purchase” list in the current law to add additional requirements. It also requires dealers to only make payment to an individual via check, money order or an electronic payment card that can be used to get cash from an ATM on the seller’s premises.

The committee did not vote on the legislation and will continue the discussion.

Samantha Harkins is the Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org

If you are looking to enhance your farmers market or know of someone looking to start a food truck business, be sure to touch base with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation as they have created two new programs to assist with these very activities.

The Mobile Cuisine Startup Program is equipped with $100,000 to assist new or existing food truck businesses.  They will provide a one-time grant of up to $10,000. There must be matching funds of at least 25 percent as well as a viable business plan and registered to do business in Michigan.

The Farmers Market Grant Program is aimed at assisting existing farmers markets (operating for at least four years) making the market more accessible to residents with a one-time grant of $10,000 to $50,000.  There must be matching funds of at least 50 percent.

Applications for both the Mobile Cuisine Program and the Farmers Market Grant Program are due by July 1 with award winners being announced at the end of July.

For more information on these two programs, please visit michiganadvantage.org.

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.

HB 4629 passed out the full House today.  This bill was created in most part to deal with issues that were presented to MDOT from a federal audit done on the Highway Advertising Act. If these issues (definition for digital billboards, definition for non-conforming billboard, etc) are not address, the state will lose a portion of their federal transportation funding.  This bill was introduced last session and because of the short time frame of lame duck, didn’t pass.  This bill would allow a local unit of government to create a more stringent policy than that at the state level if they so choose to.  We also asked that the word “operation” be added into what can be regulated by the local unit of government to ensure that digital billboards would be encompassed in that definition.  The bill also changes the spacing requirements for digital billboards from 1,500 feet to 1,750 feet and to make the “dwell time” 8 seconds instead of 6 seconds.

The bill now moves onto the Senate for consideration in committee.

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.