Legislative activity in the state capitol has slowed considerably as is usually the case in late July and the month of August. Only a few committees have hearings scheduled this week. Most legislators are staying in their districts for the next month.

While the session calendar calls for a floor period in September, Speaker Vos has indicated that the Assembly will not meet again on the floor until October. A floor period is scheduled for October 8-10.

So far this session, only 17 bills have been enacted into law. As of this date last session, 37 bills had been enacted into law. The number of Acts passed by this date for earlier sessions are as follows:

2015-2016 -- 58 Acts

2013-2014 -- 43 Acts

2011-2012 -- 39 Acts

2009-2010 -- 37 Acts

As reported in the July 15 Legislative Bulletin, the state budget, Act 9, mandates an overall 1 percent reduction in municipal cable franchise fee percentages and requires the state to compensate municipalities for the lost revenue. In order to qualify for the 2020 reimbursement payment from the state, a municipality must report to the Department of Revenue no later than August 15, 2019: (1) the gross receipt amounts that Video Service Providers reported to them in 2018 and (2) how much they received in Video Service Provider fee revenue in 2018.

DOR staff has not yet indicated how they want communities to file the information the department needs to calculate each community's cable franchise fee reimbursement payment. DOR staff said today that they are in the process of creating an electronic filing mechanism, and are working to send filing instructions to municipalities "by early next week." We will report any more information we receive from DOR as soon as we hear it.

The next Legislative Bulletin will be published after Labor Day when legislative activity resumes in the State Capitol. Between now and early September we will utilize the Capitol Buzz to report any legislative or agency news affecting municipalities.