The Senate Restructuring and Reforms Committee reported SB 1072 (amending PA 312) and SBs 1085 and 1086 (amending Urban Cooperation Act and Intergovernmental Transfers Act) this afternoon.  Unfortunately the bills don't make substantive reforms to the laws. The PA 312 bill does NOT include a definition of ability to pay nor make it the top priority meaning that an arbitrator can still determine that a community does not have the ability to pay but can hand out unaffordable awards. The Urban Cooperation Act amendments do NOT strike the language prohibiting an employee from being placed in a worst position, thus failing to remove barriers to cooperation. These bills do not represent real reforms, and we hope that in order to help local units of government the legislature will work on amending bills more substantively. Samantha Harkins works for the Michigan Municipal League handling municipal services issues.  She can be reached at 517-908-0306 or email at sharkins@mml.org.
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