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State representative delivers legislative update to Troy council, highlights new transparency rules
Summary
A state representative briefed the council on new House rules requiring sponsors and public disclosure for legislative projects, a proposed two-year lobbying cooling-off period and bipartisan efforts on road funding and sick-time legislation.
A state representative addressed the Troy City Council on Feb. 24 to outline early actions of the new legislative session, including a new House rule that changes how legislative projects are disclosed and reviewed.
The representative said new rule 52 requires each legislative project to identify a sponsor, named recipient, amount and community benefit by May 1 this year (April 1 in future years). He described the change as increasing transparency and public oversight for what had been, in his words, “concocted with special interest groups in some backroom.”
He also told council that the House passed bills to impose a two-year waiting period barring elected officials from becoming lobbyists immediately after leaving office. The representative reported broad bipartisan cooperation on local road funding and said the House and Senate leaderships reached a compromise on legislation related to tip wages and earned sick time shortly before a court mandate took effect.
The representative said he had met with the new city manager in December and encouraged continued communication between city staff and legislators. He answered a few council member questions about the new deadlines and said the grant-request form would be circulated to the city manager’s office.
No votes resulted from the presentation; the remarks were delivered as a special presentation on the council agenda.
