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Michigan Legislative Spotlight

Selected Michigan legislation through 2009 PA 91. Latest PAs received September 18, 2009.
Portions of these summaries are reproduced with permission of the Michigan Legislative Council, Senate Fiscal Agency, or House Fiscal Agency.

For more detailed coverage, visit the Michigan Legislature’s Web site I View 2008 Archive I View 2007 Archive I View 2006 Archive I View 2005 Archive I View 2004 Archive

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• PA 87 Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act—enacted to require an institution managing and investing an institutional fund to consider the institution's charitable purposes and the purposes of the fund; establishes a good faith and prudent person standard for each person responsible for managing and investing an institutional fund; specifies factors that would have to be considered, and rules that would apply, in the management and investment of an institutional fund; allows an institution to appropriate for expenditure or accumulate amounts of an endowment fund that are prudent for its uses, benefits, purposes, and duration; requires an institution to consider specific factors in determining to appropriate or accumulate amounts in an endowment fund; specifies circumstances under which an institution could delegate the management and investment of an institution fund to an external agent; specifies conditions under which an institution can release or modify a restriction contained in a gift instrument on the management, investment, or purpose of an institutional fund; requires the Attorney General to be notified and given an opportunity to be heard on the matter of releasing or modifying a restriction in a gift instrument; and outlines provisions regarding compliance with, and the scope of, the Act; also repeals the Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act (SB 411; eff. 9/10/09)
• PA 86 Highway Advertising Act--allows the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to issue a permit for a new sign structure for a religious organization sign or a service club sign measuring less than eight square feet; deletes the current $100 penalty for delinquent payment of an annual permit renewal fee, and provides for a $20 penalty if the renewal fee is not paid at least 30 days before the permit's expiration date; provides that, for permits having the same expiration date, the maximum amount of increased renewal fees for late payments that could be assessed against one permit holder would be $10,000; requires MDOT to notify a permit holder by certified mail, within 30 days after the permit's expiration date, if the annual renewal fee is not paid; and allows MDOT to cancel a permit if the fee is not paid within 60 days after the permit expires (HB 5122; eff. 9/3/09)
• PA 78 Consumer Financial Services Act--prohibits a licensee acting as a mortgage broker or mortgage lender from employing or engaging an individual as a loan officer to originate mortgage loans unless he or she were a licensed loan officer under the Mortgage Loan Originator Licensing Act (SB 465; eff. 7/31/09)
• PA 75 Mortgage Loan Originator Licensing Mortgage Loan Originator Licensing Act—prohibits an individual, beginning July 31, 2010, from engaging in the business of a mortgage loan originator without obtaining and maintaining a license under the act, with certain exceptions; requires a person applying for a license to undergo a criminal background check and to submit certain personal history information; and requires an applicant to meet specified prelicensing education requirements, pass a written test, and post a surety bond in an amount prescribed by the act (SB 462; eff. 7/31/09)
• PA 67 Refund Anticipation Loan Act--prohibits a facilitator from requiring a customer to obtain a tax refund anticipation loan (RAL) to complete a tax return, misrepresenting a condition of granting an RAL, failing to process an RAL, or engaging in any fraudulent activities in connection with an RAL; permits a borrower to rescind an RAL by returning the check or repaying the loan amount by the close of business on the business day following the day the loan was made; violators of the act are guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum fine of $500 and/or imprisonment for up to 93 days (HB 4607; eff. 7/9/09)
• PA 66 Refund Anticipation Loan Disclosure Act—requires a tax refund anticipation loan (RAL) facilitator, before a taxpayer completes an application for an RAL, to give the taxpayer certain information, including a table of loan fees and percentage rates for representative loan amounts, and a statement that the RAL is an extension of credit and not the taxpayer's actual refund; and requires a facilitator, before entering into an RAL agreement, to disclose to the taxpayer the estimated fees and annual percentage rate of the loan; violators of the act are guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum fine of $500 and/or imprisonment for up to 93 days (HB 4166; eff. 7/9/09)
PA 49 General Property Tax Act—requires a county board of commissioners to hold its annual session to ascertain and determine the amount of money to be raised for county purposes not later than October 31 in each year, rather than in October (HB 4479; eff. 6/18/09)
PA 47 Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act—requires the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to keep land under its control open to hunting unless the Department determines that it should be closed to hunting because of public safety, fish or wildlife management, or homeland security concerns or as otherwise required by law, manage land under its control to support and promote hunting opportunities to the extent authorized by law, and manage land under its control to prevent any net decrease in the acreage of land open to hunting (HB 4286; eff. 6/18/09)
• PA 46 Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC)—enacts Article 7, the "Michigan Trust Code," to, among other things, provide that the capacity required to create, amend, or revoke a revocable trust, or to direct the actions of its trustee, are the same as that required to make a will; allows a settlor to revoke or amend a trust unless the terms of the trust provide that it is irrevocable; provides that certain rules of construction that apply to the interpretation and disposition of property by will also apply to trust property; provides for representation of beneficiaries by fiduciaries and others in such matters as the receipt of notice and consent; specifies requirements for the creation of a trust; provides that a trust may be created only to the extent its purposes were lawful, not contrary to public policy, and possible to achieve; allows the settlor, a named beneficiary, or the Attorney General, among others, to maintain a proceeding to enforce a charitable trust; provides that a trust is void to the extent its creation was induced by fraud, duress, or undue influence; provides for the modification and termination of trusts, and allows the termination of uneconomic trusts; indicates how a trustee accepts a trusteeship; provides for co-trustees, the appointment of a successor trustee if a vacancy in a trusteeship occurs, and circumstances in which a trustee may resign; and requires a trustee to administer the trust solely in the interests of the trust beneficiaries (SB 387; eff. 4/1/10)
• PA 45 Powers of Appointment Act—amended to provide that the lapse, release, waiver, or disclaimer of a power of appointment given to a donee by a donor would not be a gift, conveyance, transfer, or assignment of property by the donee (SB 386; eff. 4/1/10)
• PA 44 Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act—excludes from the term "transfer" the creation of a trust or the disposition of an asset held in trust under certain circumstances, and the lapse, release, waiver, or disclaimer of a power of appointment given to a donee by a third party (SB 385; eff. 4/1/10)
• PA 42 Statute of frauds—amended to specify exceptions to a provision under which a deed of gift, conveyance, transfer, or assignment of property made in trust for the use of the person making the gift, conveyance, etc. is void against the person's creditors (SB 383; eff. 4/1/10)
• PA 31 Mortgage foreclosure by advertisement—provides that if a borrower has contacted a housing counselor but the process has not resulted in an agreement to modify the mortgage loan, the borrower, counselor, or designated person with the lender must calculate a modified payment amount under the FDIC workout program; the designated person must give the borrower a copy of any calculation that person made; the Michigan State Housing Development Authority must develop a list of approved housing counselors who can perform the duties of housing counselor (SB 4455; eff. 7/5/09)
• PA 30 Mortgage foreclosure by advertisement—requires a foreclosing party, before proceeding with a foreclosure by advertisement, to serve on the borrower a written notice containing specified information, including the designation of a contact person who would have the authority to make modification agreements, and notice that foreclosure proceedings would not be commenced for 90 days if the borrower requests a meeting with the designated person; requires the foreclosing party to include a list of approved housing counselors with the notice; requires the notice to be served by first-class and certified mail, as well as published once as required for publishing notice of a foreclosure sale; allows the borrower to bring an action to enjoin the foreclosure if the required notice is not mailed; requires the borrower to contact a housing counselor if he or she wishes to work out a modification, and requires the counselor to schedule a meeting with the designated contact person; and specifies that, if the borrower and the designated person had previously agreed to modify the mortgage loan as provided, these requirements do not apply unless the borrower has complied with the modified loan terms for one year or if the mortgage holder or servicer has qualified the loan for participation in the trial period necessary to obtain a loan modification agreement under the Home Affordable Modification Program administered by the U.S. Treasury Department (SB 4454; eff. 7/5/09)
• PA 29 Mortgage foreclosure by advertisement—prohibits a party from commencing a foreclosure by advertisement if the prescribed notice procedures have not been followed or the applicable time limits have not expired, the borrower has requested an FDIC workout meeting and 90 days have not passed, or if the parties have agreed to modify the loan and the borrower is not in default under the modified agreement; this applies only to proceedings in which the first notice of foreclosure was published within two years after the effective date (SB 4453; eff. 7/5/09)
• PA 19 Unemployment Insurance—provides for extended unemployment insurance benefits under certain circumstances until the end of the week in which extended benefits no longer are funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) (SB 399; eff. 4/13/09)
• PA 18, 20 Unemployment Insurance—delete provisions under which the share of extended benefits otherwise charged to the account of a contributing employer is charged to the nonchargeable benefits account (HB 4668, 4669; eff. 4/13/09)
• PA 17 Adoption—amends Social Welfare Act by revising the requirements for adoptive parents to be eligible for support subsidies from the Department of Human Services (DHS); specifies that the maximum amount of a support subsidy must be equal to the rate that the child received in the family foster care placement or the rate the child would have received if he or she had been in such a placement at the time of adoption; requires an adoption assistance agreement to include any services and other assistance to be provided under the agreement and provisions to protect the interests of the child if the adoptive parent or parents moves to another state (HB 4159; eff. 4/9/09)
• PA 15 Guardianship—renames the Subsidized Guardianship Assistance Act as the "Guardianship Assistance Act", and replace references to "subsidized guardianship assistance" with "guardianship assistance" throughout the act; revises the criteria for a child to be eligible for guardianship assistance and requires a guardian to be a licensed foster parent, and to undergo a criminal background check and a central registry check for child abuse and neglect; and requires the Department of Human Services (DHS) to enter into a written, binding, guardianship assistance agreement with a prospective guardian (SB 227; eff. 4/9/09)
• PA 10 Criminal procedure—amends statute regulating the issuance of search warrants to allow a warrant to be issued to search for and seize a person who is the subject of either of the following: an arrest warrant for the apprehension of a person charged with a crime or a bench warrant issued in a criminal case (HB 4096; eff. 4/1/09)
• PA 9 Michigan Business Tax (MBT) Act—allows a taxpayer that calculates and pays estimated payments for federal income tax purposes pursuant to IRC 6655(e) to calculate the estimated payments required each quarter under the act by using the same methodology as used to calculate the annualized income installment or the adjusted seasonal installment, whichever was used as the basis for the federal estimated payment (HB 4496; eff. 1/1/08)
• PA 8 Michigan Business Tax (MBT) Act—provides that a penalty for underpayment of an estimated quarterly payment cannot be assessed for a taxpayer's first tax year if the taxpayer paid 80% of the tax due for the tax year; allows a taxpayer to calculate estimated quarterly payments using a methodology used to calculate federal installment payments (SB 98; eff. 1/1/08)
• PA 2 Michigan Liquor Control Code—amended to specify that the Code's provisions regarding business relationships between manufacturers, wholesalers, and vendors do not prohibit a supplier from having any interest in any other supplier; prohibits a manufacturer from having any interest in a wholesaler; prohibits two or more wine makers from collectively delivering wine to a retail licensee; allows the Liquor Control Commission to approve alternating proprietor operations for a wine maker participating with one or more other wine makers and for a brewer participating with one or more other brewers, subject to State and Federal approval; and prohibits a manufacturer from having any direct or indirect interest in a wholesaler and a wine maker from collectively delivering wine, with any other wine maker, to retail licensees (SB 202; eff. 3/27/09)
• PA 1 Michigan Employment Security Act—prohibits a solvency tax from being assessed against an employer because interest due on federal advances was waived as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and revises the circumstances under which otherwise confidential unemployment insurance information can be disclosed (HB 4239; eff. 3/11/09)