MI-IN BORDER MONUMENTATION:  SUNSET                                                      S.B. 712:

                                                                                                    SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                      REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

Senate Bill 712 (as reported without amendment)

Sponsor:  Senator Howard C. Walker

Committee:  Local Government and Elections

CONTENT

The bill would amend the Michigan and Indiana State Line Monumentation Act to delay its sunset by three years, from January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2018.

The Act, which was signed into law in December 2010, established the Indiana-Michigan Boundary Line Commission and requires the Commission to do the following:

-- Administer a survey and remonumentation of the Indiana-Michigan border.

-- Recover or re-establish relatively permanent monuments at the mileposts of the Indiana-Michigan state line.

-- Resolve any controversies regarding the location of mileposts defining the Michigan-Indiana border.

The Commission consists of 10 members, five from Indiana and five from Michigan. The Michigan members are appointed by the Governor and must be licensed professional surveyors. The Governor must appoint one resident from each of the following counties (all of which border Indiana):  Berrien, Branch, Cass, Hillsdale, and St. Joseph.

The Act will be repealed on January 1, 2015. The bill would delay the date of repeal to January 1, 2018.

MCL 54.305                                                            Legislative Analyst:  Patrick Affholter

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would have no fiscal impact on the operations of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), and no fiscal impact on local units of government. Statute currently allows for up to $500,000 to be spent on the monumentation of the Michigan-Indiana border; however, no funds have been have yet been appropriated for this purpose. Delaying the sunset of the Michigan and Indiana State Line Monumentation Act, would allow the current or a future Legislature to appropriate funds for this purpose. It should be noted that on March 13, 2014, the State Budget Office made a request for a legislative transfer of $200,000 that would allow LARA to begin working on monumentation of the Michigan-Indiana border as authorized by the Act.

Date Completed:  6-5-14                                                       Fiscal Analyst:  Josh Sefton

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.