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HB 4261

State management: funds; public safety and violence prevention fund; create. Amends title & sec. 2 of 2000 PA 489 (MCL 12.252) & adds secs. 11a & 11b. TIE BAR WITH: HB 4260'25

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Joey Andrews and 40 co-sponsors

Create the Public Safety and Violence Prevention Fund, funded by earmarked sales taxes, to finance victim compensation, violence-intervention grants, and local police services.

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Bill Summary · HB 4261

Summary — HB 4261 (Public Safety and Violence Prevention Fund)

Status: Introduced March 10, 2025; Passed House April 22–29, 2025 (substitutes adopted); Referred to Senate Appropriations Committee. Tie-bar with HB 4260 (which directs sales-tax revenue into the fund).

Purpose

Create a dedicated Public Safety and Violence Prevention Fund in the Department of Treasury to finance crime victim compensation, local violence-intervention grants, and targeted public-safety and violent-crime reduction distributions to local governments and counties using earmarked sales-tax revenue.

Key provisions

  • Establishes the Public Safety and Violence Prevention Fund (Treasury) and allows donations and investment earnings to be credited to it. Money remaining at fiscal year end stays in the fund.
  • Funding source: HB 4260 directs an annual deposit from sales tax receipts (House analyses describe $115.0 million annually beginning FY 2025–26) into this fund. HB 4261 prescribes distributions from monies deposited.
  • Annual distributions (beginning September 30, 2026, and each September 30 thereafter), subject to appropriation:
    • From the first $75,000,000:
    • 2% (~$1.5M) to DHHS to create/administer grants for public-health/intervention solutions to community violence.
    • 2% (~$1.5M) to the Crime Victim’s Rights Fund (crime victim compensation).
    • Remaining amount (about $72M) distributed to cities, villages, and townships that provide or contract for police services (or to counties on behalf of townships that do not), pro rata based on each jurisdiction’s average share of statewide violent crimes (three most recent annual MSP reports).
      • No single local unit may receive more than 25% of that distribution (statutory cap — roughly $18M under the $72M split).
      • Use restrictions: may be used only for operational or capital expenditures for public safety, violence prevention, or improving clearance rates.
      • Prohibited uses: acquisition of >15,000 lb tactical vehicles; facial-recognition technology; chemical weapons.
      • Funds may not supplant existing recurring local public-safety resources (with a limited exception when a locality’s general-fund revenue declines).
      • Performance adjustments: distributions (2027–28) reduced by 5% if violent-crime rate has not decreased by ≥5% from a statutory base; from 2029 onward the reduction is 10% per fiscal year for which the jurisdiction fails to meet the 5% reduction target. Reduced amounts are reallocated proportionally to jurisdictions not subject to reductions.
    • Remaining fund balance after the above distributions (the bill contemplates roughly the remaining ~$40M of the $115M) is distributed to counties that apply. County shares are proportionate to the county sheriff’s total number of full-time-equivalent law-enforcement officers (using counts as of Jan 1, 2025, recalculated every five years). County distributions must be used to enhance — not supplant — sheriff’s violent-crime reduction efforts. (The statutory text places no further use restrictions on these county distributions.)
  • Reporting and oversight:
    • DHHS must annually report to legislative leaders and appropriations chairs on grant recipients, programs funded, and outcomes.
    • Local recipients must file annual clearance-rate reports (homicides and other violent crimes) with MSP (details in bill).
  • Administrative: State Treasurer directs investments and prescribes application/form requirements. Distributions are subject to appropriation in the state budget. HB 4261 only takes effect if HB 4260 is enacted (tie-bar).

Who is affected

  • Local governments (cities, villages, townships) that provide or contract police services — eligible for operational/capital public-safety grants.
  • Counties and county sheriffs — eligible to apply for the residual county-share distributions to support sheriff-led violent-crime reduction.
  • DHHS (administers community-violence intervention grant program) and the Crime Victim’s Rights Fund (receives funds for victim compensation).
  • State Treasury and MSP (administration, reporting, crime metrics).

Timeline / procedural notes

  • HB 4260 (earmarking sales-tax revenue) and HB 4261 are tied — both must become law. House passed HB 4261 with substitutes on April 22, 2025; transmitted to the Senate and referred to the Appropriations Committee. If enacted, first deposits begin FY 2025–26 and first scheduled distribution is Sept. 30, 2026 (and annually thereafter), subject to appropriation.

Potential impacts (high-level)

  • Provides a recurring, earmarked revenue stream for victim services, community violence interventions, and public-safety operations targeted by crime incidence and sheriff capacity.
  • Includes performance incentives (crime-reduction adjustments) and use restrictions aimed at limiting militarized equipment and certain surveillance technologies.
  • Leaves final distribution and spending subject to annual appropriations and program rules to be developed administratively.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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