CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS                                                   S.B. 1261 (S-1)-1265:

                                                                                                      FLOOR SUMMARY

Senate Bill 1261 (Substitute S-1 as reported)

Senate Bill 1262 (Substitute S-1 as reported)

Senate Bill 1263 (Substitute S-1 as reported)

Senate Bill 1264 (Substitute S-1 as reported)

Senate Bill 1265 (as reported without amendment)

Sponsor:  Senator Goeff Hansen (S.B. 1261)

               Senator Tom Casperson (S.B. 1262)

               Senator Phil Pavlov (S.B. 1263)

               Senator Rebekah Warren (S.B. 1264)

               Senator Mike Green (S.B. 1265)

Committee:  Natural Resources, Environment and Great Lakes

CONTENT

Senate Bill 1261 (S-1) would amend the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps Act to do the following:

-- Designate the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as the sole administrator of the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps State Program.

-- Eliminate a provision allowing the DNR to administer grants to recipients.

-- Require Corps work training programs to enhance educational opportunities.

-- Require the DNR to contact Michigan colleges and universities to facilitate programs that would provide credit for Corps participation or recognize it for field experience or as an internship.

-- Require the DNR to collaborate with businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other interested parties to develop funding sources for the Corps.

The bill also would include the following in the purposes of the Corps State Program:

-- Conserving, improving, and developing Michigan's cultural and recreational resources.

-- Enhancing, preserving, and maintaining State-owned land and water under DNR control through the employment of Michigan residents in work training programs.

-- Providing field experience and training to residents interested in pursuing natural, cultural, or recreational resource-related careers.

-- Enhancing public access, recreation opportunities, and natural resource-based economic activities on State-owned land under the DNR's control.

Senate Bill 1262 (S-1) would amend the Act to do the following:

-- Revise the work experience that may be included in a Corps State Program work training program.

-- Prescribe corpsmember eligibility requirements for the State Program.

-- Prohibit the DNR from employing a corpsmember for more than two years, and limit compensation of a corpsmember to two times the minimum wage.

To become a corpsmember, an individual would have to meet all of the following requirements:

-- Be a Michigan resident.

-- Except for supervisors, mentors, instructors, and trainers, be at least 17 years old and not older than 27 on the date of application.

-- Be interested in becoming a corpsmember to enhance the likelihood of obtaining future employment in a natural, cultural, or recreational resource-related career or to enhance educational opportunities in a natural, cultural, or recreational resource-related curriculum.

Senate Bill 1263 (S-1) would amend the Act to require the Legislature to appropriate at least 85% of the interest and earnings of the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps Endowment Fund annually for the operation of the Corps.  In addition, the bill would authorize the DNR Director to discontinue the Corps State Program if he or she determined that its benefits could be achieved more practically through a separate entity under a proposed chapter of the Act providing for the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps Partnership.  That chapter would do the following:

-- Create the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps Partnership Steering Committee within the DNR.

-- Require the Committee to seek out an entity that was willing to establish and operate a Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps.

-- Allow the Committee to establish the Corps under the Nonprofit Corporation Act if it could not find a suitable entity.

-- Prescribe work experience requirements for Corps training programs involving land open to public use.

The bill also would repeal sections of the Act prescribing corpsmember eligibility criteria and allowing the Corps to establish residential facilities.

Senate Bill 1264 (S-1) would amend the Act to do the following with regard to the Corps Partnership:

-- Establish corpsmember eligibility criteria.

-- Limit corpsmember employment to two years.

-- Require the Corps to contact colleges and universities with relevant curricula, and collaborate with businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other interested parties to develop a funding source.

The eligibility criteria would be the same as those prescribed by Senate Bill 1262 (S-1) for corpsmembers under the State Program.

Senate Bill 1265 would amend the Act to do the following:

-- Provide that the DNR would be the administrator of the Endowment Fund for auditing purposes.

-- Eliminate a requirement that the Corps assist corpsmembers in obtaining employment after their participation in a Corps program.

-- Eliminate the prohibition against Corps programs designed to impair existing contracts for services provided by nonemployee workers.

Each of the bills is tie-barred to all of the others.

MCL 409.302 et al. (S.B. 1261)                                        Legislative Analyst:  Julie Cassidy

       409.305 et al. (S.B. 1262)

       409.313 et al. (S.B. 1263)

Proposed MCL 409.325 & 409.326 (S.B. 1264)

MCL 409.311 & 409.312a (S.B. 1265)

FISCAL IMPACT

The bills would likely have a small, but negative, fiscal impact on the Department of Natural Resources.  Senate Bill 1263 (S-1) would establish the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps Partnership Steering Committee.  While members of the Committee would not receive compensation, the DNR could experience some minor costs related to reimbursing members for expenses.  Additionally, Senate Bill 1265 would designate the DNR as the administrator of the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps Endowment Fund for auditing purposes.  This designation would result in some small administrative costs that would be borne by existing DNR resources.

Date Completed:  9-27-12                                                     Fiscal Analyst:  Josh Sefton

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.