Episode #33
Podcast 83 Legislative Update September 29, 2026
Host: Stephan Currie Guests: Deena Bosworth, Davis Grimm and Maci Main of MAC Topics: MAC’s Podcast 83 discussed what appears to be a shrinking legislative work calendar and how that affects remaining county priorities in 2026 in a new episode. “We had a little bit of legislative activity last week, and it’s probably going to be spotty going forward now until at least till the election, but let's touch on what they did work on,” said host Stephan Currie. “ Senate Bill 947 finally moved through the House last week,” replied Davis Grimm. “That bill changes some of the inspection requirements and registration requirements around dams. … It is going to impact dams across the state. “We're looking at roughly 360 county-owned dams across the state, and 60 of those are listed as higher significant hazards,” he added, “so, they're going to see almost triple the number of inspections required. … “For counties like Gladwin, who own close to eight dams, and two of which being high hazard … they're going to see probably a $30,000 increase in inspection costs alone …” Also covered in this week’s episode: Indigency standards – “(Senators) heard testimony last week on Senate Bills 1089, 1090 and 1091 in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and they were voted out of the committee,” said Maci Main. “What those bills would do is create a statewide process for determining indigency,” she continued. “So, if that person is determined indigent, they would then not be able to impose certain costs, fees and assessments on those defendants. Our concern with the bills isn't necessarily the indigency determination factor of it. It's the fact that revenues might be lost in that process.” Lake assessments – “When the (Department of Natural Resources) owns a boat ramp, or a campground, or a parking lot, they have an obligation to help pay for that lake level maintenance or the establishment of a lake level, and all the costs that are incurred in it,” explained Deena Bosworth. “Although they're statutorily obligated to pay it, back in 2022, there was some legislation that kind of monkeyed around with that, and now the state is taking their financial responsibility for their portion of those assessments out of county and township PILT payments. And that's absolutely not OK. So, Rep. Tom Kunse (R-Clare) introduced House Bill 6105 for us, and that bill would just take it back to the previous way of handling this.” 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
