Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the Senate on September 7, 2010, to revise the law that establishes the extent to which a person can sue a local government or officials for failure to perform a governmental function. The bill would reverse the effect of a recent Supreme Court case related to sidewalk cracks. The court held that a statute establishing that a government is liable only for a sidewalk defect or “discontinuity” greater than two inches applies only to county roads. The bill would extend this to a sidewalk adjacent to “any municipal, county or state” highway, street or road

The vote was 33 in favor, 5 opposed and 0 not voting

(Senate Roll Call 519 at Senate Journal 0)

Click here to view bill details.

 What pushed this legislation?  Where will the repair and insurance money come from? I'd suggest making our legislators part time employees and reducing their salarys and benefits.  I know there will be a new position of  crack inspector/ measurer coming up. Can I apply? Perhaps we could just put up a "cracked sidewalk" sign like the rough road signs or maybe  sidewalk may be cracked signs like the slippery when wet and bridge may be icy signs? Might be a good way to recycle the "investment and recovery act" signs.