Where is rail transportation headed in Michigan? What role does rail freight play in our state's economy? When and how will high speed rail become a viable option for passenger travel in our Great Lakes State?

MDOT is asking for the public to weigh in on these questions and any other issues that warrant consideration as part of the development of the Michigan State Rail Plan.  Required as a part of the federal government's passage of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, this rail plan will hopefully create a vision for how the State manages and invests in  rail infrastructure, a vision which is desperately needed and has been sorely lacking in recent years.

To ensure that there is broad public input, the series of public forums being conducted by the League's partners within the Michigan By Rail group, are designed to engage the forum attendees in a similar vision-setting process and comments collected from the attendees will be submitted to the department as part of MDOT's rail plan process.

Please take a few minutes to review the State Rail Plan website and submit your comments online, or plan on attending one of the upcoming Michigan By Rail forums (September 8th in St. Joseph and September 15th in Dearborn) and share your thoughts on what Michigan should be doing to leverage passenger, freight, commuter and light rail opportunities to boost economic development and quality of life.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdot/MDOT-MiRailPlanOverview_330876_7.pdf

Chris Hackbarth handles transportation issues for the Michigan Municipal League.  Chris can be reached at 517-908-0303, or by email at chackbarth@mml.org.

Amtrak announced this afternoon that it would offer five separate east-bound and west-bound trains between Chicago and Kalamazoo over the Labor Day holiday.  From September 2 through September 7, Amtrak will offer five different daily schedule options for Kalamazoo, Niles and New Buffalo, and three trains per day stopping in Dowagiac.  Amtrak is  experiencing record ridership levels on its three Michigan lines and has been selling out its trains between Chicago and Detroit on weekends this year.  Hopefully, the signs of increasing ridership and the success of an experiment like this will lead Amtrak to increase train frequency year round in Michigan.

Amtrak West Michigan Labor Day Specials.pdf (102.75 kb)

Chris Hackbarth handles transportation issues for the Michigan Municipal Leaue. Chris can be reached at 517-908-0303, or by email at chackbarth@mml.org.

Two bills designed to boost investment in community waste water infrastructure projects and brownfield site clean-up activities were reported from the Senate Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs committee earlier this week.   Senate Bills 1442 and 1443 were both reported from the committee by votes of 4-0, following testimony from the League and Allegan City Manager Rob Hillard in support of the proposal.  As detailed in earlier articles, these two bills attempt to shake loose revenue from the Great Lakes Water Quality bond that Michigan voters approved in 2002.  Eight years after its passage, the State has spent only about $150 million of the $1 billion that was authorized for waste water, storm water and non-point source pollution prevention projects.

Mr. Hillard spoke to the committee about Allegan's experiences with the state's sewer financing tools and the critical need that communities have for consistent, easily accessible financing for these important projects.  Reforms that are provided within these bills will allows more cities, throughout Michigan, to proceed with important infrastructure upgrades.

There were a series of changes to the bills that the committee adopted prior to passage, the most important of which was the to lower the amount of money that could be used for non-point source activites at brownfield sites.  Originally, the bill provided for $200 million to be made available for brownfield sites, in the version the committee approved, $140 million would be available for non-point source clean-up and $10 million for communities to use through the brownfield grant and loan program. 

These bills are now before the full Senate for consideration in early Septemeber.  Please let me know if you have any questions about this legislation or the League's support for these bills.

Chris Hackbarth handles environmental issues for the Michigan Municipal League.  Chris can be reached at 517-908-0303, or by email at chackbarth@mml.org.

The House of Representatives yesterday passed legislation that will likely prevent drastic revenue sharing cuts.

The Granholm Administration has proposed a comprehensive budget solution that will close the budget hole for the current 2009-2010 budget, and will eliminate the deficit expected for the 2010-1011 budget.  These budget recommendations were sent to the Legislature. Indications were made to League staff that if these recommendations were not approved, the Governor would be forced to do an executive order that would include eliminating the August revenue sharing payment (approximately $120 million to communities).

The House of Representatives yesterday took the first step in passing the Governor’s budget, approving HB 6086 on a 57-47 Vote. The Senate is adjourned until September 7th, but indications are that the Senate Republicans will also pass this appropriations bill and send it on to the Governor for her signature.

Andy Schor is the Assistant Director of State Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League. Contact him at (517) 908-0300 or by email at aschor@mml.org.