[{"_1":2,"_98":-5,"_99":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6101604,"mediaKeyId","2807534-8f2fb1dfafb7e1772d4ee246b01c291f","parentId",2807534,"title","Subcommittee approves March minutes and excuses absent members","audioSeconds",5216,"startMs",320000,"endMs",5536000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2807534-8f2fb1dfafb7e1772d4ee246b01c291f&start=320&end=5536","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2807534-8f2fb1dfafb7e1772d4ee246b01c291f/thumbnail_320000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6101604/Michigan/Subcommittee-approves-March-minutes-and-excuses-absent-members","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6101604-a2a14b0afd2c2d78a338aa7ab1ffc32b/orig.mp4?Expires=1770725752&Signature=GxOVWsFT23KBvEOuUZfeMDB0z8owlA5FE4~O5Brdinp85IGK-M1vwoHmozsyze7tA8ewV9QYQW9TarZPCgPTh6vnn6uHP8VQxQRuRJx3R9ZZjfqQClqLKbIGg40UTuKKV8FQZjIMJNDq-7KtQEW5CAZGtbNZwHiTr9a-~VPOh89myOtIUHzJfWNaPf9T3qG647hHGiO1ND9jqU3F1PhymmHIzv16CugnVkOImeCr7eOG3eIYY6ByeKTv6O96vE57Um8VuoVICgnzFeKX9NZBnwrgEeo456rt7qMn0XmIQ0b3k8Iu18-OnDDmHLQVcQZAr9tVEW4hpjoHhD~xF9BgoQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Appropriations Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Insurance and Financial Services Committee","date","2025-03-20T00:00:00Z","article","At the start of the session, Representative Dennis Steele moved to approve the minutes of the subcommittee’s March 13, 2025 meeting. The chair announced, “Hearing with no objections, the minutes are adopted,” and the motion carried by voice vote with no roll call recorded.

Later in the session a motion to excuse absent members was made and recorded as approved without objection. The transcript does not list which members were excused nor provide a roll‑call vote; the chair declared the motion approved.

Both items were handled as routine housekeeping and did not include further debate or amendments during the recorded session.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Appropriations - Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and Insurance and Financial Services Thursday, March 20, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","The House Appropriations Subcommittee approved the minutes from its March 13, 2025 meeting and voted, by voice without objection, to excuse absent members during the session.","taxTitle","Appropriations - Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Insurance and Financial Services , Appropriations, House of Representative, Committees\t\t\t\t\t, Legislative, Michigan","taxId",30766,"location","Michigan","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6101610,"Public Service Commission details reliability work, grants and new siting unit",2468,3046000,5514000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2807534-8f2fb1dfafb7e1772d4ee246b01c291f&start=3046&end=5514","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2807534-8f2fb1dfafb7e1772d4ee246b01c291f/thumbnail_3046000.jpg","/articles/6101610/Michigan/Public-Service-Commission-details-reliability-work-grants-and-new-siting-unit","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6101610-2a39a1432e21e83ff107b61c9a8d8779/orig.mp4?Expires=1770725752&Signature=iU6aec~4bzWANLF7EfRob-zbXUQxF5JCrvFgBAU2Lew4qJ3MCzRiJ~37n5JdYIiYBhSWDnqUen9cV7Qdzv69W8lnXHVuI98Rg~W1NcDo9Vw2I0gkBemXy5Ozl94rgdagxyzeNv7thwJj2vINvJHG132qIMjgAyy2g2601vlDYG3ovsfzvcos81~DjapPgAZykPOk7yV6uNeFYT85qBUSDhfpk1KnuOTi6G1Lo5yR3yIQh30Q-bdZl8yp095dh8OWFGlza-PURp~mFD22R8vC2xcBG40ZtSdOxWwbXfjsLCZdm5ImbadkIRoA51aV0usm8DCjTpYZJbjaF6~uY7yl5A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Michigan Public Service Commission Chair Dan Scripps told the House Appropriations Subcommittee that the commission’s top priorities are reliability, fair rates and implementation of recent energy laws, and he reviewed staffing, funding sources and recent grant awards.

Scripps said the commission’s mission is “to serve the public by ensuring safe, reliable, and accessible energy and telecommunication services at reasonable rates.” He told lawmakers the commission is a creature of statute, issues orders through contested‑case processes, and that staff provide independent technical and legal analyses in every proceeding.

On reliability, Scripps pointed to improvements in outage minutes in 2024: he said Consumers Energy customers experienced an average of 21 fewer outage minutes compared with 2023 and that Consumers restored power to 93% of customers within 24 hours in 2024, up from 87% in 2023. He said DTE reported a 70% improvement in time without power in 2024, in part because of grid improvements and milder weather.

Scripps described the commission’s funding mix: the Public Utilities Assessment (PUA), a restricted fund established under Public Act 299 of 1972 and assessed against regulated utilities, covers roughly 83% of current operating costs. Federal pipeline safety grants cover a portion of pipeline inspection costs under the federal PHMSA program; Scripps said the federal government authorizes up to 80% reimbursement but that actual appropriations have been lower, creating a budget shortfall the commission continues to pursue with federal partners.

He summarized recent grant activity and federal funding that affects the state: the commission awarded $20.8 million to 19 grantees under the Renewable Energy and Electrification Enhancement and Development (EIED) grants and continues to monitor $50 million allocated under earlier low‑carbon grant programs. He also noted a recent U.S. Department of Energy announcement of more than $14 billion in conditional federal loans related to gas and electric projects.

Scripps said the commission has created a renewable energy siting section following the 2023 siting law and has hired a section manager with additional staff planned; as of the hearing he said no siting cases had yet been filed with the commission because local ordinance processes and a required four‑month local review must generally occur first.

Lawmakers asked about rate impacts, residential time‑of‑use pricing, siting and public hearings. Scripps said residential rates are higher than average on a per‑unit basis but that overall residential customer bills are roughly average because Michigan customers use fewer kilowatt hours, and he highlighted Michigan’s high ranking on energy efficiency savings. On time‑of‑use and peak pricing, he said programs are meant to reflect wholesale costs and, based on early pilots, can lower overall system costs even for customers who cannot shift usage.

On grid preparedness, Scripps described an independent audit of distribution systems ordered by the commission and said the commission is categorizing audit recommendations into actions that can be implemented immediately, items to be addressed in rate cases, and long‑term distribution plan changes. He said tree trimming remains a major driver of outages and that the commission is treating distribution reliability as an “obsessive focus.”

Scripps closed with a summary of public‑facing work: the commission handles more than 11,000 customer inquiries a year, operates programs such as the Michigan Energy Assistance Program (MEEP) — which serves more than 50,000 households annually — and holds public hearings and technical sessions across the state. He said the commission will continue to hold public meetings beyond statutory minimums.

The subcommittee approved meeting minutes and excused absent members during the session (see separate item).","Michigan Public Service Commission Chair Dan Scripps described regulatory work to improve power reliability, implementation of 2023 energy laws, grant awards and the commission’s new renewable energy siting section, and outlined funding streams used to operate the agency.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":44,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":50,"_51":94,"_53":95,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":96,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":97,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6101615,"Michigan Indigent Defense Commission outlines standards, grants and staffing needs",2704,3024000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2807534-8f2fb1dfafb7e1772d4ee246b01c291f&start=320&end=3024","/articles/6101615/Michigan/Michigan-Indigent-Defense-Commission-outlines-standards-grants-and-staffing-needs","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6101615-8c3c33405462cb740d57a38354b992ff/orig.mp4?Expires=1770725752&Signature=WJkuCrguEVLEvRrVEk0~~hykU3f9KG~fS3UuKXM3CMYi0lat3-UufvmjSsoOQiiCCwD60~Gq8VgGsRv~II1jg0S6pOR53bPjkLHs1dV5WSx-444pv29Nm4cc~ittZPTyBOMf8R51bqyW1vVK8GTJv1FZoWKZFETXrY-XMIpVMJm07gkON0b~gGoLlinbPXQhTLw7yI1Bc1p-rjKlj9wcMKQKUx3yxWE7VCb7tzjZZTF5K56QVB0qB2zaWae-nkdkJIL9OdLvXe9UVn5AT5~sljeOLe9c5VVLRWAHZHfAe5PC4eAE8OAIbbDxakI-tg7p1zRR7Z~duXbIYD4BmV77cA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Michigan Indigent Defense Commission Executive Director Kristen Stanley Staley told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and Insurance and Financial Services that the agency has used statute‑mandated standards and state grant funding to expand and professionalize public defense across Michigan.

Staley said the MIDC’s statutory mandate is to “develop and oversee the implementation of minimum standards on the delivery of indigent defense at the trial level” and to administer grants so local systems can meet those standards. She told the committee the commission enforces standards that include annual training for attorneys, timely attorney‑client contact, case caps, access to investigative and expert services, and an independent public‑defense structure.

The commission, created by the MIDC Act, is a 19‑member body that meets publicly and operates under Michigan’s Open Meetings Act, Staley said. She described the agency as a small staff — currently funded for 18 full‑time equivalents with authorization for up to 21 — that provides compliance monitoring, regional field staff, grant oversight, training and research.

Staley told lawmakers the MIDC directs most of its grant dollars to local operations. She said local shares for trial‑level funding are statutorily required and that for fiscal 2025 local shares were about $38,800,000. She said state grants from the general fund in fiscal 2025 totaled $258.3 million and that systems also collect an estimated $300,000 a year in attorney fee reimbursements from some jurisdictions.

The presentation summarized measured outcomes MIDC attributes to its work: Staley said the commission’s policies helped expand counsel at first appearance so that last year “over 295,000 people” received counsel at arraignment — roughly 86% of arraignments statewide — and that national research shows counsel at first appearance is associated with reduced pretrial incarceration, reduced bail amounts and higher appearance rates in court.

Staley described other changes supported by MIDC grants: creation of 35 public defender offices covering 40 counties, growth in investigator and social‑work positions embedded with defense teams, and a 41% increase in use of experts and investigative resources compared with the prior year. She said the commission supports training partnerships with the state’s law schools and has created a holistic defense fellowship in partnership with Wayne State University.

Questions from subcommittee members focused on pay parity with prosecutors, the use of leftover grant balances (work projects) and how the MIDC would handle expanded responsibilities such as youth defense. Staley said the commission’s attorney‑compensation standard ties minimum pay guidelines to comparable state civil service pay bands (for example, the attorney general’s assistant attorneys) and noted retained criminal defense rates are often higher; she said the standard aims to reduce the disincentive to take public defense work.

On unexpended local grant balances, Staley said some funds reflect hiring delays, start‑up time for new offices, and pandemic‑era case backlogs; she noted some funds are set aside to pay for large retrials and resentencings, including cases affected by Michigan Supreme Court rulings about juvenile life without parole.

Staley closed by asking the subcommittee to consider an increase of four FTEs to support financial and compliance oversight, training, and continued technical assistance to local systems.

Votes at the meeting included approval of the March 13, 2025 subcommittee minutes and a motion to excuse absent members (see separate item).","Kristen Stanley Staley, executive director of the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission, told the House Appropriations subcommittee the agency has used state grants since 2019 to build public defense capacity, has implemented minimum statewide standards and seeks four additional full‑time staff to sustain compliance and training work.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Subcommittee approves March minutes and excuses absent members

Public Service Commission details reliability work, grants and new siting unit

Michigan Indigent Defense Commission outlines standards, grants and staffing needs