From Sara Cambensy’s office

LANSING — 109th District State Rep. Sara Cambensy (D-Marquette) had two bills signed this week by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer: House Bill 5742, and House Bill 5892. Both bills were part of large bipartisan bill packages.

“House Bills 5890 -5892 will help rural communities gain greater access to state grant funding to replace water and wastewater infrastructure by streamlining the application process and easing cumbersome ‘one-size-fits-all’ requirements for our smaller communities. With more than $1 billion in state revolving fund and drinking water fund loans, all of our small communities across the U.P. should feel confident when applying for these grants,” the release reads.

House Bill 5890 expands access to clean and safe drinking water for Michiganders by amending the requirements and processes to access water infrastructure financing. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Beth Griffin (R-Mattawan).

House Bill 5891 is a companion bill to House Bill 5890 and makes needed reference updates in the Shared Credit Rating Act, and was sponsored by Rep. David Martin (R-Davison).

House Bill 5892 lowers the burden of the application process so that communities can more quickly get the dollars necessary to build critical infrastructure projects. The bill was sponsored by Cambensy.

Communities can contact EGLE at Water Infrastructure Financing Section EGLE-WIFS@Michigan.gov or by calling 517-284-5433.

House Bills 5742-5748 were also signed by Whitmer to clarify Michigan Department of Rural Development’s certificates of sale laws to ensure the department can more expediently help Michigan farmers and manufacturers continue to export agricultural products such as fertilizers, nursery stock and commercial feed. This bill was introduced by Cambensy “to make sure our state can export pesticides to farmers to help keep our national and global food supply chains strong,” the release states, adding: “The pandemic showed us just how vulnerable our food supply chain is when we have disruptions, delays or a lack of agricultural products we usually see coming into or going out of the state. We wanted to make sure our $2 billion annual agricultural exports from Michigan were strong for our farmers who rely on the revenue from what they sell in our state, and saw an opportunity to strengthen these laws, ultimately protecting Michigan consumers who rely on this complex chain of product transactions to make sure we have food on the table every day.”