Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Samantha Gibson and Jimmy Johnson of MAC
Topics: Frustration remains high in Lansing as state legislators appear little closer to a fiscal year 2026 budget, with only two weeks to start of the budget year.
MAC’s concerns center around the House’s budget plan to ax $35 million in county revenue sharing, said Director of Governmental Affairs Deena Bosworth in the latest episode of Podcast 83.
“They're meeting. They're talking, they're trying to sort out some of the details of it, but we're still a long way from having it done,” Bosworth noted.
A rising point of confusion in Lansing, especially in House Republican circles, is that their proposed increases in public safety dollars for sheriffs and for more road dollars somehow compensate for revenue sharing dollars.
“That’s the education campaign that we're on right now with our legislators,” Bosworth explained “Same with the road plan; most counties do not use general fund dollars to pay for the county roads. So, cutting revenue sharing means cutting our general fund budget. The road funding dollars don't make up for that.”
In the good news segment of this week’s episode, Governmental Affairs Specialist Jimmy Johnson said support for so-called “Maintenance of Effort” (MOE) fees for county medical care facilities looks strong. “A lot of people understand the important work that (medical care facilities) are doing. And the exciting aspect of this as well is that there is an opening, it would appear, where the (House Insurance Committee) chair is open to completely removing the sunset (on MOE fees).
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
