Podcast 83

Podcast 83 is a regular look at the news, stories and trends related to Michigan’s 83 counties from Keweenaw to Monroe, Chippewa to Berrien.

Podcast 83 is a government podcast hosted by Derek, with 10 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Derek hosts Podcast 83, a government show with 10 episodes published.

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  Episode #29

  Podcast 83 Special Episode on Acrisure Risk Services August 18 2026

  Aug 18, 202616 minS2

  Host: Stephan Currie Guests: Sarah Kline and Paul Bragenzer of Acrisure Topic: A new episode of Podcast 83 explores the growing human resources challenge in county government and features a MAC Corporate Partner positioned to help members address it. Keying off a presentation made at the MAC Legislative Conference in April, Acrisure’s Sarah Kline and Paul Bragenzer spoke with host Stephan Currie about the need for counties to be in transition mode today to avoid big trouble tomorrow. “Statistically speaking, about 37 percent of organizations, both in the public and private sector, are going to have leaders that are retiring, in the next 10 years,” said Kline. “And only about 30 percent of organizations actually have a true perpetuation plan. So, we see that as an area of risk for counties, especially. “And the reason why we wanted to bring that topic into today's podcast is it really resonated with the folks (at the conference),” she continued. “So … we could see the wheels turning as they were having conversations at their tables that we felt like that topic resonated with them.” “Let's talk a little bit about risk management. What risks and safety concerns come from these generational risks?” Currie asked. “Well, it's, very interesting to see when an organization has a specific mindset and structure, where information and knowledge is housed in a few people, and then when that person leaves,” replied Bragenzer. “There goes some information that does not then get passed down throughout the organization, so consequently, there's disharmony.” Acrisure, Kline explained, focuses on helping counties and others maintain a “safety culture” in everyday operations: “If you walk into the building on your first day or into that job, are we exhibiting that culture as everyone is interacting, and are we also creating that as part of their onboarding and just so that it's something that is all the way from the beginning, they know what to expect and what the culture is going to be. That's a great foundation for bringing up those future leaders and making sure that we minimize that risk from a perpetuation standpoint.” See video versions of all Podcast 83 episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@michiganassociationofcount2606 Visit the Podcast 83 page at www.micounties.org

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #28

  Podcast 83 Special Episode on CoProPlus Procurement Services August 4, 2026

  Aug 4, 202624 minS2

  Host: Stephan Currie Guests: Shawn Vaughn and Austin Brown of CoProPlus/PPIM Topic: Helping county staffs address the conundrum of rising prices and limited procurement budgets is the focus of Podcast 83’s newest episode. Shawn Vaughn and Austin Brown of PPIM/CoProPlus joined MAC’s Stephan Currie for a discussion on how their firms can help you keep the bills in check and the proverbial shelves stocked. “The Public Procurement Institute of Michigan (is) a Michigan-based nonprofit … that exists to support people who are responsible for public purchasing, whether they're public procurement professionals, a finance director, administrators, clerks or department leaders who wear multiple hats,” explained Vaughn. “Let's talk about that a little bit,” said Currie, “because there are varying capacities of government agencies out there. Some have procurement professionals, some don't. So, what does your support look like in actual practice?” “We've had to be very nimble and pivot, because the needs do change, of course,” replied Vaughn. “So, our goal is to make public procurement more accessible and less intimidating, especially for agencies with limited staff or limited procurement resources. We focus on three core areas: education, helpful resources and, my favorite, collaboration. “One of our biggest priorities is providing that practical education that public agencies can put to use right away,” she continued. “A great example is our “ Why It Matters ” webinar series. So, rather than simply explaining procurement rules … We focus on why good procurement matters, and how it helps agencies make better decisions.” “We've been a long proponent of CoProPlus,” said Currie. “I've worked with CoProPlus for a long time. Talk a little bit about the interaction between CoPro Plus and PPIM.” “So, the PPIM ultimately is what exists to help public entities do the procurement that they want to do,” said Brown. “CoProPlus is the cooperative program and the vehicle that helps them do that. We've got about a little over 170 contracts that exist within our portfolio . And it's a wide variety of different contracts that are available. So, a lot of what Shawn has mentioned is what PPIM is tasking people with: Can you procure more efficiently within your own organizations, whether that's going through the bidding process or using resources that are already available to you. And then, sometimes that is looking at cooperative contract usage, and that's where the CoPro Plus program exists.” See video versions of all Podcast 83 episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@michiganassociationofcount2606 Visit the Podcast 83 page at www.micounties.org

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #26

  Podcast 83 Legislative Update July 8, 2026

  Jul 8, 202616 minS2

  The newest episode of MAC’s Podcast 83 delves into the wins for counties out of the Legislature’s mad dash to a fiscal 2027 budget right before the holiday weekend. “The overall budget, I believe, was less than previous year budget, correct?” asked host Stephan Currie. “It was pretty much flat, with a $14.1 billion General Fund. That's what we look at. We look at the General Fund, because that's what they have some discretion over,” replied Deena Bosworth, MAC’s chief lobbyist. “You had some increased pressures because of the One Big Beautiful Bill, financial pressures coming from federal changes. So, to make it out flat, I think is pretty good, plus there is still an option to get the (Revenue Sharing Trust Fund) done by the end of the year; that isn't bad,” Currie said. In other budget news: Public safety funding – “I'm very happy about that one,” Bosworth said. “That's the continuation of the $11.7 million that goes out to counties for public safety revenue sharing grants. Now, it's a line item in the budget, same as last year. Prosecutor funding – “What they did this year in the fiscal 27 budget is they added $3 million in addition to what they had appropriated before to make all of those counties that were eligible (for this funding) in 2025 and 2026 whole.” Also in this week’s episode, two new team members were introduced: Davis Grimm and Maci Main. Both Grimm and Main are coming to MAC from legislative offices and will work under Bosworth on the association’s advocacy team. See video versions of all Podcast 83 episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@michiganassociationofcount2606 Visit the Podcast 83 page at www.micounties.org

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #25

  Podcast 83 Episode on Savi Student Loan Services June 30, 2026

  Jun 30, 202612 minS2

  Host: Stephan Currie Guest: Tony Raffa of Savi Topics: With major changes coming to federal student loan programs on July 1 , this week’s Podcast 83 episode features a MAC partner that aids counties and their employees in navigating loan repayment rules. Savi is now operating in nine Michigan counties to aid county employees, or even all of a county’s residents, navigate the dizzying rules of loan repayments “We are a public benefits social impact company, really founded by a lot of student loan experts and policymakers, to help those many people out there struggling with student debt, trying to better understand their debt and all their options,” explained Savi’s Tony Raffa. “Probably the most important thing is that collections are back on the table (as of July 1),” he continued. “The biggest concern here is that we've seen 9 million borrowers are currently in default nationally, so about 1 in 4 borrowers. We see about 25 percent of those in Michigan are in this boat. And what that means is it means these borrowers are not currently making student loan payments. Now, that has a few effects “For starters, anyone who's not making student loan payments is going to see an immediate hit to their credit score. We've seen, on average, credit scores dropping by 57 points, and as we continue to get deeper into defaults and delinquency, we will only see that number increase. We've even seen 2 million people go from prime to subprime credit scores.” See video versions of all Podcast 83 episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@michiganassociationofcount2606 Visit the Podcast 83 page at www.micounties.org

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #24

  Podcast 83 Legislative Update June 23, 2026

  Jun 23, 202612 minS2

  Host: Stephan Currie Guest: Deena Bosworth of MAC Topics: The Michigan Legislature is another week closer to a statutory deadline for approving a fiscal 2027 budget and it’s not clear what is going on, reported MAC’s Podcast 83 team in a new episode. “What is the latest on the budget?” asked host Stephan Currie. “What we're hearing is that they worked really hard all weekend to come up with agreements on big items and funding,” replied Deena Bosworth. “Now, how far into the weeds do they get? We're not quite sure. “We know the governor was really pushing to have housing included in these budget negotiations. We know the speaker was really pushing to have property tax reform in these budget negotiations,” she continued. “We have advocated, and I think others have advocated, that these are huge policy discussions that really should not be part of the budget conversations.” This week’s episode also touched on: Brownfield redevelopment changes: “So, counties, cities, townships and villages would be eligible for these grants or a low-interest loan program, kind of like a revolving fund through the state,” Bosworth explained. “Grants (would be) up to about $2 million each, unless it's a huge transformational package or transformational site. But it would allow locals to do some environmental cleanup, some remediation and then prep it for redevelopment.” Indigent defense resources for juveniles: “This one's a tough one for us,” Bosworth said. “House Bill 4070 expands the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission's authority to make recommendations for youth indigents who are going through the process. MAC is supportive of expanding MIDC to youth,” she added. “But the state also has to pay for that. And we already know that we struggle with the authority of the Indigent Defense Commission, telling our counties what they can and can't do within their facilities or their budget when it deals with dealing with indigent defendants. So, right now, we are opposed … because we don't see where the state is necessarily going to allocate the funding necessary to implement it.” See video versions of all Podcast 83 episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@michiganassociationofcount2606 Visit the Podcast 83 page at www.micounties.org

  ListenShow Notes

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