[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-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],{"_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",6574150,"mediaKeyId","3111698-2f4835699783500e648227e1d8d0414d","parentId",3111698,"title","MLCC reports strong spirit sales, online renewals and October SIPs go‑live; seeks two FTEs","audioSeconds",1953,"startMs",3261000,"endMs",5214000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3111698-2f4835699783500e648227e1d8d0414d&start=3261&end=5214","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3111698-2f4835699783500e648227e1d8d0414d/thumbnail_3261000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6574150/Michigan/MLCC-reports-strong-spirit-sales-online-renewals-and-October-SIPs-golive-seeks-two-FTEs","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6574150-d6ee7aa8f25e077a7213fb3c7ec89780/orig.mp4?Expires=1770506834&Signature=SnFY3hguIbxhQ0WrVmUVdKvUThbm4XmX4tc0UAsuldX75mDJPkLmLdWtKTZIB600Iwc1hYMz8M~M3MjsTcxpRrgSpknEonBDsxMGJHiraRMqCtMfJpELHh5jeBYZAqC3vN~es7OM96us3XG60INJzziu~xbmGBGXQr53pmkCvonWowGXcU68BThQ0dzE02KnO6muqtxyLxLH1DFbqeQLCZe5IjekKotKIzJGjPNfMm~EyD3S8Sqlf4ZRF~wOcYh8C9jm6zktVe90mqw2zPZe7ANS3HfiKrXSzGT912iMlsMFgb49A44iva7hOatmXrn8N0sDmsONYSokmQ8rbAOdpg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Michigan Legislature","date","2025-04-24T15:21:41.16Z","article","Kristen Belcher, chair of the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, and MLCC staff told a House appropriations subcommittee that the commission continues to modernize licensing and wholesale operations while maintaining revenue flows to the state and local governments.

\"We feel very proud of that work,\" Belcher said, introducing commissioners and MLCC staff who presented licensing, distribution and technology updates. Carrie Kron, business manager, and David Marvin, executive services director, described the agency’s licensing volumes, wholesale operations and an information‑technology replacement project known as SIPs (Sales, Inventory and Purchasing System).

MLCC officials said the commission manages more than 14,000 spirit SKUs, over 20,000 retail, wholesale and manufacturer licenses and permits statewide, and annual spirit case sales in the low‑to‑mid tens of millions of cases. Kron told the committee that the commission’s wholesale and excise activities generate nearly $2.0 billion in sales dollars and that the agency collects excise taxes on beer and wine in addition to spirit revenue.

On licensing, MLCC said more than 22,000 individual renewals were due in the current annual renewal cycle; about 18,000 had been completed through the agency’s online renewal process at the time of the presentation. Kron said the online renewals and a recent change allowing licensees to print licenses at their location have reduced back‑end manual processing work for MLCC staff.

Marvin described the SIPs replacement for MLCC’s legacy sales and inventory system — which the presentation described as roughly 50 years old — and said the project is in functional testing and is scheduled to go live in October 2025. \"We are actually in functional testing right now,\" he said; the presentation said the agency will move next into end‑to‑end testing.

MLCC reported current authorization for 150 FTEs in the executive budget but funding for 148 positions; the commission said it was asking the governor’s office to authorize the two additional FTEs in the executive recommendation so it can fill to the full allotment. MLCC said its current on‑board personnel count was 131, with active backfills in progress.

During questions, Representative VanWert asked about timing and scope of the SIPs rollout and when the system would go live; Marvin said the project’s go‑live target is October and testing was underway. Representative Snyder asked whether smoke alarms installed through a LARA program complied with a recently enacted Senate bill on 10‑year non‑replaceable batteries; LARA staff answered that the alarms already installed are compliant.

Representative Steele raised the prospect of a bottle deposit statute that could later include liquor containers. Belcher said the deposit question is not an MLCC initiative; MLCC staff told committee members the commission would adapt operations if the legislature changes law to include liquor containers and that the agency would work with partners to address implementation details.

Ending: The commission asked appropriators for authorization for two additional FTEs and continued funding for IT work projects; MLCC staff said SIPs is a multi‑year modernization effort that will connect ordering, inventory and ADA (authorized distribution agent) partners and move the agency to daily inventory balancing.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Appropriations: Subcommittee on LARA and Insurance and Financial Services - 4/24/2025","oneSentenceSummary","Kristen Belcher and Michigan Liquor Control Commission staff briefed the same House subcommittee on licensing, detailing more than 14,000 stocked spirit SKUs, a multibillion‑dollar sales footprint, an IT replacement (SIPs) scheduled to go live in October 2025, and a request to authorize two additional FTEs.","taxTitle","2025 House Legislature MI, Michigan","taxId",77683,"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},6574154,"LARA seeks $2.7 million for faster nursing‑home investigations, plus staffing for homes‑for‑the‑aged oversight",1268,457000,1725000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3111698-2f4835699783500e648227e1d8d0414d&start=457&end=1725","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3111698-2f4835699783500e648227e1d8d0414d/thumbnail_457000.jpg","/articles/6574154/Michigan/LARA-seeks-27-million-for-faster-nursinghome-investigations-plus-staffing-for-homesfortheaged-oversight","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6574154-de3b3ca98223fdbd6e4c69ab5dec4c9f/orig.mp4?Expires=1770506834&Signature=RA48mFIRn2NDSo2vdKpQhurG48sFIV1qiZYITECOFhAq9MYemsuXVgXXIdt352UZ-lmAs8FOb4gw8S2CX0VJZcCrvHjSkDXWgyX4KuntXK~8FywK2yKIaZ8Ttgni45WO7fP7s9we1fIAhayiOaGs0UjGO2o8XJ2T7yqYEg-0gkkgbq7Fdhh9S108SFVVhGtC0r~CGehANZdMvCq-wq8NrPmjoGK399YH9LNgcqmNOAYsa4XAqL8Vqhrr~2SBwoK3kNHWplQLozkC8Gy8ultprHrIf7~XLu2NELzbuhTWHrewoEc3lDOe4PRmhThJyH9moBiWaF89bKrwhKJBEkrUsg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","At a House appropriations subcommittee presentation, Marlon Brown, director of the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), outlined the department’s fiscal year 2026 budget recommendation and asked lawmakers for additional staff and operating dollars to speed investigations and inspections in long‑term care.

\"Our mission at LARA is to protect people and to promote business in Michigan through transparent and accessible regulatory solutions,\" Brown said, summarizing the department’s priorities and its FY2026 funding request. Dan Horn, LARA’s director of finance and administrative services, gave the subcommittee the financial details.

LARA’s FY2026 recommended gross budget is $650,600,000, Horn told the committee. He said 43% of that total supports state grant programs administered by LARA to local units of government and that roughly $301,500,000 (about 46% of the department total) is supported by general‑purpose general fund dollars. Horn added that most day‑to‑day departmental operations are paid from state restricted funds and user fees.

The department requested a set of targeted increases for oversight of vulnerable residents. Horn said the package includes $2,700,000 to boost oversight of hospitals, nursing homes and other licensed acute and continuing care facilities. That amount includes $2,400,000 and seven FTEs aimed at improving the timeliness of complaint investigations and routine inspections, and a little more than $300,000 and two FTEs to strengthen the complaint intake unit. \"These investments in the LARA budget are critical to protecting nursing home residents,\" Horn said, noting Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) timelines that require on‑site investigation of “immediate jeopardy” complaints within three business days.

Horn also asked for $700,000 and three FTEs to enhance oversight of Michigan’s 348 licensed homes for the aged (HFAs). He said the HFA program had been sustained by eight healthcare surveyors since 2017 despite a roughly 35% increase in licensed HFAs during that period. Horn referenced audit findings issued by the Office of the Auditor General in March 2023 that identified inspection‑process and documentation weaknesses and noted a reported HFA licensure shortfall of about $900,000 in fiscal 2021.

Brown and Horn framed the requests as necessary to meet both federal and state obligations and to address workforce shortfalls. \"We are acutely aware of burnout with our own team members and their ability to respond to a growing number of immediate jeopardy requests in a timely manner,\" Horn said.

Committee members pressed for detail on overlap with other agencies and on workforce requirements. Representative Steele asked whether LARA’s proposal overlapped with the Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) or other regional federal or state programs; Brown said he had not reviewed DIFS’s budget in detail and promised to follow up with the representative’s office and the committee to clarify differences. \"I'll make sure that we follow up with your office and also with this committee to clarify where the differences in those asks might be,\" Brown said.

Representative McKinney, who raised concerns about staffing and conditions in some nursing facilities, asked how the department enforces standards and supports facilities to correct deficiencies. Brown and Horn described LARA’s mix of inspection, training and partnership with long‑term care ombudsman services and said monetary penalties and disciplinary action are used when facilities do not correct violations in the required timeframes.

The presentation also described LARA initiatives beyond enforcement: a Regulatory Effectiveness Office established last year to centralize process improvement, outreach, and recruitment; upgrades to online licensing and renewal systems; and a medication‑aid training and registration program created under previously enacted law.

The subcommittee adopted the minutes from its April 17, 2025, meeting at the start of the hearing on a motion by Rep. Steele; no roll‑call tally was recorded in the transcript.

What happens next: Brown and LARA staff offered to provide supplementary information to committee members, including clarifications about overlap with other departments, more detail on staffing and FTE authorizations, and follow‑up on elevator‑inspector qualification questions raised by members. The department emphasized that many proposals are intended to respond to federal requirements and to address vacancies that have left programs understaffed.

Ending: LARA officials said they welcomed continued dialogue with the subcommittee as the budget process continues and repeated that the requests were intended to maintain compliance with federal rules and to protect senior residents and patients in licensed facilities.","Director Marlon Brown told a House appropriations subcommittee that the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs' FY2026 recommendation would maintain much of current spending while adding targeted resources: $2.7 million (including 7 FTEs) for nursing‑home complaint investigations and $700,000 (3 FTEs) to oversee homes for the aged.","actionData","errors"]

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MLCC reports strong spirit sales, online renewals and October SIPs go‑live; seeks two FTEs

LARA seeks $2.7 million for faster nursing‑home investigations, plus staffing for homes‑for‑the‑aged oversight