MAC COVID-19 Update
‘Dear Colleague' letter needs Michigan support for principle of direct county aid on COVID

MAC asks county leaders to contact their members of the U.S. House and urge them to sign on to a bipartisan “Dear Colleague” letter in support of direct funding for county governments in the next coronavirus relief package.

The letter was launched by Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), John Katko (R-N.Y.), Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) and is now circulating on Capitol Hill.

NACo advises us that it is vital to build support for this letter in the next 24 hours, as there is an April 30 deadline for members to sign on to it.

We've had 78 county leaders reach out since last night's Advocacy Alert. We can do better. Click the link below to send your message to the U.S. House for direct county aid!
Set up your FEMA grants account by April 30

The Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division of the Michigan State Police would like all counties seeking reimbursement for COVID-19 related expenses to obtain a FEMA grants portal account and submit a request for public assistance by April 30 so they can get an idea on how many applicants they will have.

Each county in Michigan who has eligible Category B, Emergency Protective Measures work in direct response to COVID-19 and wishes to seek reimbursement must create its own account and submit its own request.

They have also provided the following documents to assist in the process:


Webinars are now slated throughout May to help county officials navigate the reimbursement process. Click here for the schedule.

To obtain maximum benefit from the information presented at the briefing, counties should have representatives from its management, emergency response, public works, and accounting/finance/procurement operations and designate a primary point of contact to interact with the recipient and FEMA. Additional information on the Public Assistance Grant Program can be found in the Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide (PAPPG) .

For more information, contact Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org.
April edition of Michigan Counties looks at 'Counties in Corona'

The new edition of MAC’s enewsletter, Michigan Counties , provides a special section on Michigan’s response to the coronavirus crisis.

In regular features:

  • Ingham Clerk Barb Byrum reviews the demands of increasing mail-in voting on our election apparatus (Affiliate Corner)
  • Attorney Christian Mullet of the firm of Cohl, Stoker & Toskey goes over what a pending case before the Michigan Supreme Court might mean for the Freedom of Information Act (Expert Corner)
  • Muskegon County invests in greater IT capabilities for itself and others (Best Practices)
  • Rep. Sarah Lightner (R-Jackson) and Sen. Jim Ananich (D-Flint) participate in our Legislator Q&A

The current and previous editions of the newsletter can be seen on our website.
MAC sets May 6 webinar to aid counties on return-to-work plans

Counties continue their planning to return more employees to on-site operations. In a webinar on May 6, experts from the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority (MMRMA) will walk participants through MMRMA’s COVID-19 Model Response Plan and then take questions from MAC members.


After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Next Treasury webinar is May 4

The Michigan Department of Treasury, in partnership with MAC, the Michigan Townships Association and the Michigan Municipal League, is pleased to announce the joint webinar, COVID-19 Updates and Resources for Local Governments , on Monday, May 4 at 2 p.m. Topics will include Michigan Economic Forecasting, a FEMA Update, the State Budget Process and Local Government Budgeting and Projections.

Please register and submit your questions on the registration page .

This is the second webinar in a multipart series. The third one is tentatively scheduled for Monday, May 18 after the May Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference; please be on the lookout for more information and how to register.

Please note, each webinar has a maximum capacity of 1,000.
NACo continues COVID webinars to aid county leaders

NACo's COVID-19 webinar series is designed to explore the different county functions impacted by COVID-19. Coming up are two webinars: one will focus on the criminal justice system and the other will feature a presentation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on how to apply for COVID-related reimbursement and funding.

Click below to learn more and register for each webinar:

May 1 | 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. EDT

May 4 | 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. EDT
Chase closes 2020 Virtual Conference with address on federal issues

In the closing keynote address for MAC’s 2020 Virtual Legislative Conference on Thursday, April 30, NACo’s Matt Chase will provide an overview of federal responses to the COVID-19 crisis and how Michigan county leaders can assist the National Association of Counties in gaining proper assistance for counties as the crisis continues.


Chase’s address is the last of eight virtual events MAC hosted for members to provide educational offerings to replace the physical conference, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Video files of all of these events are available on the conference webpage for 24/7 viewing.