REMONUMENTATION; INDIANA BORDER        S.B. 595:

        ANALYSIS AS PASSED BY THE SENATE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senate Bill 595 (as passed by the Senate)

Sponsor: Senator Jonathan Lindsey

Committee: Regulatory Affairs

 

Date Completed: 11-13-25

 

 

RATIONALE

 

According to testimony before the Senate Committee on Regulatory Affairs, the last complete survey of the Michigan-Indiana border was conducted in 1827. Reportedly, unlike the State’s borders with Wisconsin and Ohio, the monuments placed to mark the Michigan-Indiana border were not durable and have fallen into disrepair. As a result, the exact placement of the border between Michigan and Indiana is uncertain. This complicates legal issues, property disputes, Great Lakes preservation responsibilities, and traffic enforcement along the border.¹ To address this issue, in 2022 the State enacted Public Act 81, which reestablished the Michigan-Indiana State Line Commission (Commission). (Indiana enacted similar legislation in 2019). Initially, the Commission planned to contract with private surveyors to remonument the border; however, it did not receive any qualifying bids. Accordingly, it has been suggested that the State work with county surveyors to complete the project.

 

CONTENT

 

The bill would amend the Michigan-Indiana State Line Remonumentation Act to allow the Commission to procure professional surveying services through grants to the county remonumentation programs in counties adjacent to the Michigan-Indiana State line. 

 

Under the Act, the Commission must procure professional surveying services through negotiated contracts to administer a survey and remonumentation of the Michigan-Indiana State line. The bill would allow the Commission to procure professional surveying services for the purposes of the Act through negotiated contracts or grants to the county remonumentation programs in counties adjacent to the Michigan-Indiana State line. A county receiving grant funds under the bill could provide the professional surveying services or procure professional surveying services through negotiated contracts. A county that received grant funds could not commingle the funds. 

 

Finally, the Act will be repealed effective January 1, 2026. The bill would extend this date to January 1, 2030.

 

MCL 54.317 et al.

 

ARGUMENTS

(Please note: The arguments contained in this analysis originate from sources outside the Senate Fiscal Agency. Th26+e Senate Fiscal Agency neither supports nor opposes legislation.)

 

Supporting Argument

The bill would give the Commission the tools and time it needs to finish the remonumentation process. Public Act 81 of 2022 reestablished the Commission and tasked it with conducting a

study of the administration and remonumentation of the border by January 1, 2026; however, testimony indicates that the lack of qualifying bids delayed progress even as time ran out. The bill would solve this issue in two ways. Firstly, it would extend the current sunset on authorizing language, giving the Commission time to complete the project. Secondly, it would allow the Commission to provide already-appropriated funding to county remonumentation programs. Testimony further indicates that these county programs have local expertise, which would ensure that the remonumentation project could be finished in a timely manner. The State’s remonumentation project was first started in 2011.¹ By passing the bill, the State would ensure that the Commission could finish its remonumentation project.

 

        Legislative Analyst: Nathan Leaman

 

FISCAL IMPACT

 

The bill would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on counties along the Michigan-Indiana border. The counties could contract for professional surveying services at an indeterminate cost. They also could receive funding from the Remonumentation Fund and if these funds were equal to the costs, there would be a zero net fiscal impact on locals.

 

        Fiscal Analyst: Bobby Canell

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