Advocacy News – Dec. 8, 2022
The 101st Legislature came to an uneventful close Dec. 7 after lawmakers and the Governor failed to strike a deal on a spending plan and tax cut.
The rumored deal would have included a $200 million economic development project, a $180 million tax cut and additional funds for year-end book closing totaling around $500 million. The reported tax proposal was to have included passage of HB 5080, which would exclude delivery and installation charges from sales tax.
Despite the ability of lawmakers and the Governor to come to a deal on a supplemental budget or changes to tax policy, a few key Chamber member priorities were sent to the Governor in the closing days of the 2021-22 legislative session. This includes:
- Affordable Housing – The Legislature sent a collection of bills – Senate Bills 362, 364, 422, and 432 – to the Governor’s desk to tackle affordable and attainable housing here in the Great Lakes State. Although certainly not a silver bullet to a compounded and longstanding national crisis, this package of bills aims at expanding and implementing various locally driven, flexible incentives for workforce housing. Passage of this legislation is timely as the state and country continue to face severe housing challenges. The Governor is expected to sign this bill package.
- Updates to the Michigan’s Solid Waste and Recycling Laws – The Michigan Legislature passed a historic eight-bill package designed to update Michigan’s outdated solid waste and recycling laws. This package is the product of seven years of deliberation in workgroups that included more than 70 different stakeholder groups from Michigan Recycling Coalition to the Michigan Chamber. With funding secured and an updated policy framework to modernize materials management systems, House Bills 4454-4461 will allow Michigan to begin to develop a circular economy to the benefit of Michigan’s economy and environment. Michigan has historically underperformed in its recycling rate and capacity, with an 18% recycling rate compared to the national average of 34%. Many attribute this to current regulations, which focus primarily on disposal capacity and landfills due to the extraordinarily low disposal costs. Some believe that Michigan has the capacity to recycle 45% of household waste. The bill package seeks to prioritize productive, valuable and beneficial uses of discarded materials through increased diversion of materials towards recycling facilities through a more robust materials management plan, including the incorporation of important chemical recycling technologies. The Governor is expected to sign the measure. For more information, please contact Mike Alaimo at malaimo@michamber.com.
- Tax Reforms – Legislation was passed and sent to the Governor to align Michigan with federal practice for business interest expense deduction limitation. Senate Bill 195 allows Michigan’s unitary business groups to calculate their business interest expense at the group (or taxpayer) level rather than at the individual level. This ensures Michigan’s administration of the business interest expense matches the federal practice. The bill that was sent to the Governor is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022, but it remains unclear whether she will sign it into law. For more information, click HERE. You may also contact Leah Robinson at lrobinson@michamber.com with any questions.
- Utility Easement Reform – Legislation was sent to the Governor to help ensure public health and continuity in easement right of ways. House Bill 6370 will save ratepayer dollars that would have to be dedicated towards compliance with a 2018 law requiring all titled property owners to follow certain reporting measures. The law was intended to help make the process of insuring or providing financial assistance to properties easier by consistently updating a title’s chain of custody. But for utility infrastructure easements with records that often date back multiple decades, or environmental restrictive covenants that were set into place for perpetuity unless remediation occurs, this would have created a complicated process putting the public health and ratepayer dollars at risk. The Chamber led the effort to ensure these bills were passed ahead of the initial reporting benchmarks beginning in 2023. The Governor is expected to sign the measure. For more information, please contact Mike Alaimo at malaimo@michamber.com.
- Economic Development Dollars for Agribusiness Projects in West Michigan – A legislative transfer request will provide a $60 million performance-based grant through the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) Fund for a wastewater transport and disposal service plant in Muskegon County. This transfer will benefit multiple businesses and projects on the west side of the state and allow further investment and growth in the agri-business industries and is expected to create approximately 145 jobs and $187 million in investment from five different companies. This legislative transfer allows the Michigan Economic Development Commission (MEDC) to move forward with funding for this project. For more information, please contact Wendy Block at wblock@michamber.com.
The Legislature will return to Lansing in January for the start of the 2023-24 legislative session. It is the first time in nearly 40 years that Democrats will hold majorities in the State House (56-54 split), Senate (20-18 split) and the Executive Office. Here’s a recap of how the Michigan Chamber sets it advocacy priorities – Behind the Bills: Crafting the MI Chamber’s 2023 Legislative Priorities.