Welcome to your daily briefing on government developments in Michigan. Today we're covering 6 key stories including updates on michigan government headlines, background & context. Let's dive in.
3 stories
MITN Purchasing Group's bids, RFPs, and state government contracts are available for search on the BidNet Direct platform.
Michigan government professionals can streamline procurement research by using this centralized portal for MITN contract opportunities.
GovernmentBids.com now offers exclusive bids directly from local government purchasing groups and statewide Michigan agencies.
MI procurement officers and agency staff can streamline vendor sourcing by accessing consolidated bid opportunities from across the state.
FindRFP offers a centralized database of Michigan bids, RFPs, and government contracts from state and local agencies, available through a free trial.
Government professionals in MI can streamline vendor discovery and stay competitive on upcoming state and local procurement opportunities.
Reach professionals in this market
3 stories
Federal FOIA fee waivers must be granted when disclosure is "in the public interest" and not primarily commercial. The four-factor analysis (subject matter, informative value, contribution to public understanding, requester's commercial interest) is well-established but routinely misapplied by agencies as discretionary when it is mandatory if the factors are met.
A properly framed waiver request that addresses each factor explicitly is hard for an agency to deny without creating an appellate record. Most denials lose on appeal when the requester points to the framework.
Before incurring any cost on a federal grant, the question is whether 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance) treats the cost as allowable, allocable, and reasonable. "Reasonable" is the most-litigated of the three; auditors will second-guess it after the fact using a prudent-person standard.
Disallowed costs must be repaid, with interest, and in serious cases trigger pass-through audits of other grants. The standard does not distinguish between intent and oversight.
Less-restricted federal employees may engage in partisan political activity off-duty — but never on-duty, never in the workplace, never using government property, and never while wearing identifying agency clothing. Social media posts from a personal device while on duty count as on-duty activity.
Hatch Act violations carry penalties from reprimand to removal. Career employees with strong records have been removed for posts that took 30 seconds to write at lunch.
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