Bulletins
MITA staff have been a part of the state legislative budget wranglings reported in the news in recent days. Just yesterday, the State Senate passed a one-month extension on the state budget in order to avoid a shutdown. The governor has threatened to veto the bill, saying that she will
State Revolving Fund Projects Bring Work for Underground As the state’s fiscal year comes to an end in three weeks, the state will close the books on an expected $550 million in loans for fiscal year 2007, compared to awards averaging only $160 million per year over the last three
After several months of negotiations MITA has been successful in gaining the approvals of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), Department of Management and Budget, and Attorney General on a proposal that will allow prime contractors an alternative to the Owners and Contractors Protective (OCP) liability policy MDOT currently requires.
You will recall back in June 2004, at the recommendation of the Subcontracting Team (MITA, MDOT, FHWA), MDOT implemented a “pilot” subcontracting process that would streamline subcontract approvals while maintaining accountability for documentation and compliance. Key elements of the then new subcontracting process were, subcontracts would not be approved by
This week MITA began ratcheting up public pressure on legislators to deal with the problems of transportation funding in light of the Minnesota bridge collapse. There were also a number of legislative developments at both the state and local levels that are of interest to MITA members. MITA Creates Urgent
Recently, at the MITA summer conference, MDOT leadership reported that they are projecting the State construction program for 2008 will be approximately $700 million, down roughly $300 million from the 2007 program, which was $1 billion. In reporting those projections, the MDOT leadership further commented that that program reduction would
If you think high gas prices have meant the end to MITA’s transportation funding initiative, think again. For the last four days articles and editorials supporting the need for more transportation funding have appeared in newspapers and television stations across the state. The renewed support was kicked off with a
Amidst the flurry of activity around the passage of the new Michigan Business Tax, legislation was quietly signed into law on June 28, 2007 that would amend the state’s construction lien law. (An analysis to Senate Bill 487 can be downloaded by clicking here.) New notification requirements passed in 2006 were
After weeks of intense wrangling with state policymakers on a proposed Michigan Business Tax (MBT), the Legislature adopted a new plan last night that included critical contractor deductions fought for by MITA. Two weeks ago, the House, Senate and Governor announced the framework for a business tax agreement that would
There have been numerous discussions regarding the dramatic tax increases that would be placed on contractors by the new Michigan Business Tax (MBT). However, a number of key legislative leaders have expressed their willingness to “fix the contractor problem”. Unfortunately, as currently written, the issues still remain unresolved and thus,
Today the Legislature finally released details of the proposed new Michigan Business Tax (MBT). MITA has been working non-stop since the framework of the proposal became public less than two weeks ago. It became apparent that contractors would face dramatic new tax increases as a result of the gross receipts
The following is a news story about the proposed Michigan Business Tax published June 21 by Gongwer News, a legislative news service in Lansing. Quick action this week by MITA helped bring problems with the proposed Michigan Business Tax to the forefront. A concern that contractors raised about the structure
