Authors

Photo of Harry C. Veryser Jr.

Harry C. Veryser Jr.

University of Detroit-Mercy

… economics at the University of Detroit-Mercy and was previously the … Studies from the University of Detroit.  Veryser has served as Chairman … articles have appeared in The Detroit News and The Intercollegiate …

Results 1 to 100 of 6646

Pandemic response drove increase in government assistance in Michigan

One-third of the state is on government assistance. COVID-19 response was the dividing line

… cohort on government aid. During the COVID-19 pandemic, states did not have to verify the eligibility of Medicaid recipients. That has changed. The Detroit News reported this month that 540,000 people were purged from Michigan’s Medicaid rolls just since the start of 2024.  In recent years, Michiganders …

Happy fourth anniversary, COVID lockdown!

Has Michigan learned anything from its episode of executive overreach?

… which she repeated in each of her hundreds of orders, also never made sense. Whitmer found a 1945 statute enacted in response to an urban riot in Detroit that had not been used in 50 years. She claimed it granted her the authority to do whatever she wanted for as long as she said there was an emergency. …

After decade-long saga, Wayne County to move to new jail

Wayne County went $100 million over budget, even more than the Fail Jail

… never finished, and after accruing $100 million of cost overruns on the second attempt, Wayne County has taken possession of a new jail. As the Detroit Free Press’s JC Reindl reports, the March 18 handoff of the keys to the Wayne County Jail starts a six-month clock for various entities — the sheriff’s …

‘No reason to fear a charter school,’ West Bloomfield treasurer told school board

But board voted anyway to tear down Roosevelt Elementary, build new school with millage money

… local taxpayers to build another elementary school. In so doing, it rejected a $1.7 million offer to buy and renovate the century-old building. The Detroit News reports that Roosevelt Elementary is the oldest school building in Oakland County. House Bill 5025, the legislation Finkelstein supported in …

Fox2 Detroit misstates impact of declining school enrollment

Some Michigan schools have larger payrolls than current conditions allow

… of money or closing schools to stay afloat,” according to a recent Fox2 Detroit story. The TV station adds that the number of school buildings in Michigan … are opting out of the services conventional school districts offer. The Detroit News reported in December that Michigan public schools have lost 131,000 …

Michigan’s lawless corporate welfare

State business subsidies defy a century of laws and legal precedent

… generated positive ripple effects throughout the economy. Subsidizing railroads "will be of great service to the entire population of Michigan,” the Detroit Free Press argued on Jan. 13, 1838. “It will create new life in every kind of business ... and will place Michigan on a footing with any of the new …

Do kids need mental health days?

And is this a matter for lawmakers in a state that struggles with school attendance?

… needs a day off, the parent is the best judge. James David Dickson is a Detroit News columnist and managing editor of Michigan Capitol Confidential. Email him at dickson@mackinac.org. This column ran first in The Detroit News on March 13.

Nessel says her energy advocacy saved $3B in 2023

Attorney General neglects to mention her push to shut down the Line 5 pipeline

… natural gas liquids are refined into propane and used in the Upper Peninsula, while other products are routed for processing at oil refineries in Detroit and Toledo, Ohio. The remainder crosses the St. Clair River for processing in Sarnia.”

Why do West Bloomfield schools fear competition?

Oakland County school district has drifted from its A+ ways

… just moved from Inkster to Detroit’s west side. We were too late … the neighborhood option, Detroit Mumford, was a non-starter. … became home. Commuting from Detroit every day, sometimes requiring … a three-decade veteran of Detroit Public Schools. He knew what … if competition is good for Detroit schools and Pontiac schools, …

Endnotes

… Policy, July 12, 2011), https://www.mackinac.org/15396. 7 Beth LeBlanc, “Whitmer signs laws boosting teacher union rights at bargaining table” (The Detroit News, July 26, 2023), https://perma.cc/VV2Z-BK3Z. 8 Audrey Spalding, “Roadblocks to Reform?: A Review of Union Contracts in Michigan Schools” (Mackinac …

Payroll deduction of union dues

… upon repeal of the 2011 reforms. Detroit Public Schools’ bargaining agreement … challenging. [‡] “Agreement between the Detroit Public Schools Community District and the Detroit Federation of Teachers, July 1, 2021-June 30, 2023” (Detroit Public Schools Community District, …

Senate bills would ban sanctuary cities in Michigan

Municipalities would no longer have the right not to cooperate with federal immigration authorities

… later, the sponsors of the two bills, Sens. Michele Hoitenga, R-Manton, and Jonathan Lindsey, R-Allen, wrote a letter to Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, urging the chair of the civil rights committee to request a hearing on the bills. The Senate Republicans webpage cites the Center for Immigration …

Belle Isle gets $10M earmark from state budget

American Rescue Plan is source of the funds

… at a popular park in the Detroit River is getting a $10 million … resulted from the city of Detroit’s bankruptcy filing in 2013. … was in disrepair, as the Detroit Free Press recounted in a … and later departure of the Detroit Grand Prix. The island hosted … The race moved to downtown Detroit in 2023. The move was a financial …

Michigan senator plays coy about homeschool registry bill

Who will sponsor the bill, and what will be in it? Sen. Dayna Polehanki won’t say

… this going beyond registration.” As Jennifer Chamber reported in The Detroit News: Polehanki said a bill calling for homeschool registration is "probably" … receiving an education at all. Polehanki repeated that claim. From the Detroit News story: Polehanki recalled asking state Education Department officials …

Bill would give Michigan public schools veto power over competitors

Some school districts tear down buildings rather than sell to would-be competition

… sell. Lawmakers enacted it after the Detroit school district used a restriction … attempt to keep a charter school, Detroit Achievement Academy, from purchasing … a significant political effort. Detroit Achievement Academy founder Kyle … 100-year-old building, once sold by Detroit Public Schools, that had sat empty …

Michigan must untether itself from UAW

The state is hand-in-glove with a union that has a wandering eye

… side of either the law or common sense. The Detroit Three’s partner in Michigan is a union president … won’t end any better. James David Dickson is a Detroit News columnist and managing editor of Michigan … dickson@mackinac.org. This column ran first in The Detroit News on Feb. 27.

Global Detroit gets $5 million from Michigan taxpayers

Legislative advocate cites ‘talent acquisition and retention programs’

… 2024 state budget is Global Detroit, which received $5 million … the front page of Global Detroit’s website. “The #1 (and only) growing population source in Detroit is immigration,” the site adds, pitching Global Detroit as “part of the solution.” … revenue from DTE Energy. Global Detroit reported $860,203 in employee …

House Bill 5025 does not fix any problems, creates new ones

Measure would let school districts block charter schools and others, from using discarded school buildings

… existence to school officials in Detroit who tried to prevent a charter … using their former buildings. Detroit Prep was a successful and … building, once owned by the Detroit school district, was in the … But there was a problem. Detroit school district officials … schools, to serve children in Detroit. The district views other …

If you seek a pleasant peninsula, U-Haul will take you to Florida

Growing Michigan Together Council did not seek ideas for growing Michigan

… website, it would cost 57% more to rent a 26-foot truck to move from Grand Rapids or Lansing to Miami than to move from Miami to either city. For a Detroit-to-Miami move with the same pick-up day, the price difference is 37%. There are wide gulfs in price between other Michigan and Florida cities, too. …

What Michigan could lose with National Popular Vote

Beware efforts to turn features of our constitutional system into bugs

… because they’re too busy looking for workarounds. James David Dickson is a Detroit News columnist and managing editor of Michigan Capitol Confidential. Email him at dickson@mackinac.org. This column first ran on Feb. 21 in The Detroit News.

In Detroit schools, nothing succeeds like failure

Conventional schools get more money to do worse, while charter schools do better with less

… conventional public schools in Detroit despite getting less money. … open-enrollment middle schools in Detroit are charter schools, according … schools on their list are: Detroit Merit Charter Academy Warrendale Charter Academy Detroit Edison Public School Academy Detroit Enterprise Academy University …

Shelter for Thousands and Liberty for All

Developer Warren Rose on freedom and the Mackinac Center

… residential development and management company, Edward Rose & Sons, in Metro Detroit. He worked alongside his father, Sheldon, for 30 years before taking the … including the Mackinac Center, to speak with fellow freedom lovers in Metro Detroit. The Friends of Liberty dinners built a strong community, and the Rose …

Modest Expectations for Good Policy in 2024

… “legislators.” This is because two Democratic House members from Metro Detroit resigned their seats after being elected as mayors in last November’s municipal … had drawn more than a dozen state House and Senate districts in Metro Detroit “predominantly on the basis of race,” violating the 14th Amendment of the …

Rewarding Some at the Expense of All: A Recap of the State of the State

… the benefits) of whatever has been proposed. We were once again successful. Mackinac Center quotes and commentary on the issue appeared in Crain’s Detroit Business, Gongwer, Michigan’s Big Show, and news accounts across the state. Our outreach ensured that media coverage mentioned the immense costs and …

Mackinac in the Media

… even those might not be politically feasible. In all, there’s not much value here for policymakers.” Michael Van Beek, Director of Research The Detroit News Hohman: Population council should focus on improving public services “Taking more money from people to give to governments is more controversial …

Michigan taxpayers funded artistic and financial flops in last film-subsidy effort

In movies and subsidy programs, the sequel is rarely better

… financially successful 1984 classic. This was the 2012 remake that turned Detroit into Spokane. The North Korean army replaced the Chinese one as the invading … was one of Moore’s lowest-rated films. “Hung” – An HBO series about a Detroit teacher and basketball coach who made so little money that he became a …

EVs force technology on drivers

Mass adoption of the EV will create a world more hostile to cash

… worries. Odd choice. We are told that the loss of Detroit’s native advantage in building cars, in favor of … vehicles on the public. James David Dickson is a Detroit News columnist and managing editor of Michigan … dickson@mackinac.org. This column ran first in the Detroit News on Feb. 14, 2024.

Fast EV adoption will shrink Michigan’s population

The quicker the transition, the deeper the job and population loss will be, says U-M forecast

… produces economic forecasts for the state of Michigan and the city of Detroit. In one scenario, America is slow to embrace the EV. Its market share … quickly the industry shifts to electric vehicles and how successfully the Detroit Three automakers make the switch. If the transition to electric vehicles …

Flint schools get $156M in COVID funds, ask for debt relief

District seeks $56M bailout from Michigan Legislature

Leaders of Flint’s school district have asked state lawmakers to pay off $56 million in debt, according to The Detroit News. The call for a state payoff of district debt comes three years after Flint Community Schools received $156 million in COVID-19 relief funds, or over $51,000 per pupil. Flint …

Electric school buses lose one-third of range in cold weather

Range capacity drops when temps fall to 25 degrees Fahrenheit, per U.S. Department of Energy

Advocates of electric vehicles depict he electric school bus as the future of school transportation. An op-ed this week in The Detroit News went so far as to claim these buses “boost learning” among students. But the federal government admits that electric school buses can lose one-third of their range …

Dickson: Why are we building electrified roads?

The real endgame is not roads that charge cars. Those are meant to draw car-buyers in

… and electrified roads in Detroit. But be careful with attention … electrified road was installed in Detroit last November, it was hailed … electric road projects, like Detroit’s upcoming initiative led by … James David Dickson is a Detroit News columnist and managing … This column ran first in The Detroit News on Feb. 7.

Michigan needs statewide zoning reform to bring down housing costs

Governor’s plan to spend more than a billion dollars, $140,000 per unit, won’t solve the problem

… what people can build, minimum housing sizes, parking spots, requirements that houses look similar to one another, setback limits and more. Metro Detroit has some of the strictest zoning laws in the country. Tourist destinations across Michigan also severely limit where people can build, the types of …

Detroit to spend $6M in federal funds to restore decades-old fountain

Again, federal covid relief money is spent to renovate buildings and landmarks

… the age of the fountain. Detroit City Council has approved … Fountain in Hart Plaza, The Detroit News reports. The restoration … NFL Draft takes place in Detroit from April 25 to 27. Detroit hopes to have the fountain … support a fountain in one of Detroit’s neighborhoods instead. "We're …

Detroit uses $14M in federal COVID-19 funds for a sports dome

Covid relief has an expansive definition, by design

Sen. Debbie Stabenow boasted on X that Detroit will spend $14 million it received from the federal government … investments in our communities. Great to see Detroit breaking ground on the Chandler Park Fieldhouse!” … including the water park, must pay admission. Detroit is not the only local government that has considered …

Detroit developer gets $6M in state funds for renovations to century-old apartment building

The latest in millions of public money spent on a vacant building

A Detroit real estate firm is receiving $6 million from state … decay, as noted by Historic Detroit. The building was last used … housing, according to the Detroit Free Press. The Roxbury Group … bought the property from the Detroit Housing Commission for $350,000 … according to the city of Detroit. These include $7 million …

How will a Michigan homeschool registry make students safer?

Politicians who advocate the idea will not answer the question

… Michigan couples were arrested in December 2023 for, in the words of the Detroit Free Press, allegedly conspiring “to adopt dozens of children and then … three-quarters of students in Michigan’s largest public school system, in Detroit, are chronically absent. And fewer than 30% of students statewide score …

Why you can’t buy cars on Sunday in (some parts of) Michigan

Law was passed at the behest of auto dealers; Detroit led effort before Lansing followed suit

… Act 66 of 1953 A May 13, 1953, story in The Detroit News, published the day after Act 66 was passed, … were open on Sundays. “The large majority of Detroit’s new and used car dealers were elated Tuesday … reads. “New and used car sales had been banned in Detroit for the last year and a half, and this has caused …

Detroit Achievement Academy wins $500K Yass Prize as finalist

Competition rewards transformational changes in education

A Detroit charter school won $500,000 in a national competition designed to … transformational changes in education. The Detroit Achievement Academy was one of 33 … the award. Kyle Smitley, CEO of Detroit Achievement Academy, described the … beginning” for the academy and for Detroit Prep, which was also under consideration …

How will a Michigan homeschool registry make students safer?

Politicians who advocate the idea will not answer the question

… Michigan couples were arrested in December 2023 for, in the words of the Detroit Free Press, allegedly conspiring “to adopt dozens of children and then … three-quarters of students in Michigan’s largest public school system, in Detroit, are chronically absent. And fewer than 30% of students statewide score …

Whitmer ignores taxpayer in school lunch pitch

State of the State speech gives credit to politicians, not the public, for funding 2.8 million school lunches daily

… Michiganders of reality. There is no such thing as government money. We the people pay for every free lunch served by politicians. James David Dickson is a Detroit News columnist and managing editor of Michigan Capitol Confidential. Email him at dickson@mackinac.org.

Michigan’s government has not earned your money

Population council should focus on improving public services before demanding more tax revenue

This article originally appeared in The Detroit News December 27. 2023. Members of the Growing Michigan Together council seem to agree that the state needs to spend more money to grow the state's population. But they’re only debating whether the state needs to raise taxes to do it. The council has …

Michigan deserves the 3.9% income tax rate

Whitmer should support new bill from Rep. David Martin

… bill would be a start to righting this wrong. Hopefully more will be done in the future. We shouldn’t hold our breath though. Gov. Whitmer told The Detroit News just days ago that tax cuts would be a non-starter in the Legislature. Specifically, “any proposals on that front” were unlikely to advance. …

Detroit Auto Show gets $8M boost from Michigan taxpayers

This year’s confab will make one more attempt to revive dying market for electric vehicles

… Auto Show, better known in Detroit as The Auto Show, was received … first automobile exhibit in Detroit happened in 1899 and was the … Auto Show, according to the Detroit Historical Society. The event … economic activity to the Detroit area in 2023, according to Fox 2 Detroit. Admission ranges from $20 …

State superintendent asks Michigan lawmakers for home school registry

Homeschool registry presented as safety issue, though officials cite no data

… involving bombs, firearms and physical violence resulting in injury. Detroit has a problem with chronic absenteeism, which was at 77% in 2021-22. Detroit is not the only district to grapple with chronic absenteeism, but it was …

Whitmer: Don’t expect a tax cut in 2024

Governor speaks on behalf of lawmakers, despite 54-54 tie in the House

… power-sharing arrangement with the House Democrats. But House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, has not given any indication he’s willing to share power, and House rules … the gavel in his hands in the event of a tie that’s not 55-55. As The Detroit News’ Craig Mauger reported: Asked if she had any appetite for additional …

Michigan lawmaker admits: Free lunch is taxpayer-funded

Universal school lunch is a bill footed by taxpayers, not a gift given by politicians

… Democratic state rep, when Jaime Churches, D-Wyandotte, responded to a Detroit News column on the free lunch fallacy. “Media that promotes inflammatory … anything you’re not willing to take blame for. James David Dickson is a Detroit News columnist and managing editor of Michigan Capitol Confidential. Email …

Coming soon to your town: the Michigan Climate Corps

Michigan taxpayers fund governor’s climate mission with $2.6 million over 2 years

… organizations that will be assigned climate corps members are the cities of Detroit, Lansing, and Kalamazoo; Oakland and Washtenaw counties; Detroit Future City; Let’s Grow Michigan; and the West Michigan Environmental Action …

Detroit’s Pope Francis Center gets $7M in 2024 Michigan budget

Group had nearly $5M in net income, $12M in assets in 2023

… an’s 2024 state budget awards $7 million to the Pope Francis Center in Detroit. The center also received $7 million from California-based Julia Burke … according to the site. Its plans include “a 40-unit bridge housing facility in Detroit with trauma-informed care involving intensive medical, respite, psychological, …

8 of America’s most expensive cities to heat are in Michigan

Of the top 500 costly cities, 15 are in Michigan

… expensive cities are in Michigan. They are, per HVAC Gnome: 4. Flint 10. Detroit 20. Dearborn 22. Southfield 30. Westland 32. Lansing 33. Warren 34. Sterling … lowest-ranked Michigan city was Ann Arbor, at 142. Tresa Baldas of the Detroit Free Press reported on the study. Richie Bernardo, the author of the study, …

Top 10 CapCon stories for 2023

Tales of government activism gone wrong

… Whitmer abuse of emergency powers is déjà vu all over again, Sept. 26. Whitmer once again wielded her emergency powers after disastrous storms hit the Detroit area.  1. Nearly 1 million Michiganders are subject to occupational licensing laws, Oct. 14. Occupational licensing has created a shortage in several …

Henry Ford museum, hospital win big in 2024 Michigan budget

Museum campus is already well-funded, without taxpayer aid

… Henry Ford Health System is a corporate entity with hospitals in metro Detroit and Jackson. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, announced Sept. 9, … its campus. The system plans a $3 billion expansion, according to The Detroit News. The health system made news on more than one occasion during the …

History lessons for policymakers pondering our population problem

Michigan feared a similar crisis in the 1970s

… might be achieved. “Proposed methods for dealing with population growth range from the stupid and unrealistic to the frightening and ruthless,” a Detroit Free Press feature writer remarked, perhaps thinking of ideas like that one. The second lesson is to be on high alert for impractical policy proposals. …

Half of Ford dealers sit out the EV revolution

Company claimed two-thirds were interested last year, but the fraction keeps getting smaller

… vehicle is the way of the future. The Detroit News reported last week that 47% … and service electric vehicles, the Detroit Free Press has learned. “EV adoption … spokesman Marty Gunsberg told the Detroit Free Press. “As Ford dealers have … EV.” Read the reports for yourself: Detroit News on Buick; Freep on Ford Ford …

A tale of two Michigan growth strategies

What Michigan’s growth council can learn from the Mackinac Center

… infrastructure and copying practices of successful places to grow areas in Michigan will be largely ineffective. CapCon reported in December 2022 that Detroit’s QLine streetcar will receive taxpayer subsidies of $85 million over the next 17 years. On an average day in September, October and November of 2022, …

Nearly half of Buick dealers opt out of EV revolution

Buyout has cost General Motors $1 billion so far

… Corp. rather than stick around for the electric vehicle revolution, The Detroit News has reported. “This year we’ve given dealers who are not aligned … of this year,” Hall reports, citing GM’s Wall Street filings. Read the Detroit News report for yourself

Michigan lawmaker calls for homeschool registry

Foster care is already regulated by the state

… and adopted up to 30 children, according to the Detroit Free Press. She noted in a post on X that the … nation for chronic absenteeism, according to The Detroit News. Detroit Public Schools reported a chronic absenteeism …

Endnotes

… 18 Ross Jones, “Police Misconduct Claims Cost Detroit Taxpayers $19.1 Million Since 2015” (WXYZ Detroit, June 14, 2018), https://perma.cc/6YF6-GGYH. 19 C.J. Ciaramella, “Detroit Police Department Settles Another Dog Shooting …

Indemnification for officer liability

… associated damages. Such damage awards can be catastrophic. From 2015 to 2018, Detroit paid $19.1 million in police misconduct settlements, including two settlements … unlawful shootings, which totaled approximately $1.4 million.[18] In 2020, Detroit paid another $75,000 for the wrongful shooting of a dog killed during a …

Blaming homeschoolers for foster abuse is a dodge

The state has better tools to protect children and should not be targeting families

… failing their children. More and more parents in Detroit are pulling their kids from the district’s public … do this thanks to organizations like Engaged Detroit and The Homework House, which provide homeschooling … agencies,” Rep. Jaime Greene, R-Richmond, told the Detroit Free Press, The homeschool registry proposal …

MEA head boasts of membership growth, but numbers tell a different story

Among non-retirees, MEA membership is declining

… upswing. “We have signed up more members this fall, year over year, than we have in the last five, six, seven years – a long time,” Madafferi told The Detroit News in a Nov. 12 story. Madaferri took her post in July. But a federal filing at the end of the month told a different story. The MEA currently …

History lessons for policymakers pondering our population problem

Michigan feared a similar crisis in the 1970s

… might be achieved. “Proposed methods for dealing with population growth range from the stupid and unrealistic to the frightening and ruthless,” a Detroit Free Press feature writer remarked, perhaps thinking of ideas like that one. The second lesson is to be on high alert for impractical policy proposals. …

Michigan Needs More Education Options

… It took place at Engaged Detroit, a homeschool co-op and advocacy … Kyle Smitley, founder of Detroit Achievement Academy and Detroit Prep charter schools, shared … meet the growing demand in Detroit for new, sustainable options … encourage entrepreneurs in Detroit and elsewhere. Only then will …

Mackinac in the Media

… and the Constitution.’” Ingrid Jacques, USA Today Columnist Crain's Detroit Business A politician’s job announcements are very different from a state’s … state economic performance.” James Hohman, Director of Fiscal Policy The Detroit News Price controls will lead to drug shortages “Whatever the industry …

Growing Michigan Together Council says more education spending will draw people to state

The facts tell a different story; school funding does not play a causal role in success

… confirms that more money is not the answer.” The Detroit Public Schools Community District received $8,891 … it was given $9,163 per pupil the same year. Detroit’s per-pupil funding surpassed Northville’s over the next 10 years, however. Detroit received $25,761 in per-pupil funding and Northville …

Ford Marshall plant dubbed worst deal of 2023

Taxpayers spent $1.7B; governor’s allies ran expensive smear campaign against dissenters

… scare off dissenters. Residents who spoke out against the project were sent postcards showing their faces crossed out by red Xs, according to a Detroit Free Press report. Reporter Dave Boucher called the threats “part of a larger campaign to shout down opponents of” the project, funded by “dark money” …

The problem with pork

Michigan lawmakers grant $1B in earmarks annually

… nonprofit that opened its doors in 1971. The Detroit-Windsor Dance Academy was founded in the 1980s … received $1.8 million from the state, and the Detroit academy did not. According to Bridge Detroit, the academy was forced to close because White-Hunt …

EV battery maker lays off quarter of staff

Our Next Energy ‘on track’ to build facility after $237M welfare package

… generation of the auto industry, Whitmer claimed. Thirteen months later, ONE is laying off one-quarter of its staff, firing 128 of its 512 employees. The Detroit News reports that 82 of the jobs cut are in Michigan. The layoffs come, the company said, “in response to market conditions and to focus on core priorities.” …

Endnotes

… the US" (Journal of Regional Science 53, no. 4, 2013): 690-711. 105 Edward L. Glaeser and Giacomo A.M. Ponzett, “Did the death of distance hurt Detroit and help New York?” (National Bureau of Economic Research, No. w13710, 2007), https://perma.cc/2MKL-SQL8. 106 Edward L. Glaeser, Giacomo A. M. Ponzetto …

Role of cities

… of transportation and communication technology on different cities. The authors find that improved technology undermined manufacturing cities like Detroit and benefited idea-producing cities like New York.[105] It’s important to consider what causes certain cities to draw new residents and specifically …

Two Detroit museums net $4M each in state budget

Detroit museums awarded money from the state budget two years in a row

Two Detroit museums will receive money from state taxpayers for at least the second year in a row. The … $4.5 million from the 2024 state budget. The Detroit Historical Society was awarded $4 million. The … with $12,269,244 remaining after expenses. The Detroit Historical Society will receive $4 million from …

Ford pares back Marshall plant, and state incentives will follow

Automaker will hire 800 fewer people than planned; investment will shrink by $1.3 billion

… plans would now leave taxpayers with an even lower return on investment — giving more than $1 million in incentives for each job created.” Crain’s Detroit Business reports that the overall amount spent on the project will fall from $3.5 billion to $2.2 billion. As Kurt Nagl reports, the public incentives …

State broadband plan won’t help rural communities

Bulk of funding will go where it’s needed least

… MIHI program would fund. Instead, the digital divide is caused by low broadband adoption rates. Even though fast service is available, only 65.1% of Detroit households, 70.6% of Flint households, 78.2% of Grand Rapids households and 78.7% of Macomb County households subscribe to the home broadband services …

Auditor: 97% of Michigan’s $18B in COVID spending was federal money

A single firm earned nearly $149M producing commercials

… open back up,” a woman’s voice says to start the spot, titled “My Why.” The 60-second commercial premiered in April 2021 and features visitors to Detroit’s Ford Field, one of the earliest hubs to receive the COVID vaccine, who explain why they took the jab. According to the state’s COVID dashboard, …

The trade-offs of paid leave policies

Is Whitmer hoping voters won’t notice the cost of her mandates?

This article originally appeared in the Detroit News September 27, 2023. Is it too much to ask that our elected officials acknowledge the costs of their proposals? Every time there’s a new policy to be pitched, proponents focus only on the benefits and pretend there will be no costs. That’s what Gov. …

Michigan lawmakers roll the dice on grant for Greektown

Street redesign in downtown Detroit bags $20M of taxpayer cash

… economic and cultural vibrancy of Greektown,” according to its 990 form for 2021. Greektown is a popular commercial and entertainment destination in Detroit. A casino there is one of the district’s biggest attractions, generating $331.7 million in revenue in 2022, according to Zippia. Lawmakers did not …

Hill Harper and the problem of financial disclosure in Michigan

Feds have teeth to police incomplete financial disclosures; under bills headed to Whitmer’s desk, Michigan does not

… Harper’s financial disclosure, first reported by The Detroit News, he told federal officials that he owns no … jobs, book sales, and ownership in a downtown Detroit coffee shop, Harper claims to bring in no income. … lesson in what’s required. “You own a business in Detroit. That business has income. You need to report …

Detroit charter network up for $1 million award

Charter schools overcame resistance from Detroit’s school district

… The leaders and staff of Detroit Achievement Academy and Detroit Prep, two charter schools … and high-quality work.” Detroit Achievement Academy serves … 2013. Its sister school, Detroit Prep, which also serves K-8 … schools outperformed the Detroit Public Schools Community District …

Sine Die: Democrats lose majority; Legislature will adjourn for the year

Bills passed in January will require bipartisan support

… require the support of members of both parties. While the year in lawmaking is over, 2024 will start with the 54-54 split. House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, will remain the speaker. The sine die resolutions were approved by the House and Senate on Thursday.

Michigan House passes financial disclosure bill

Critics blast the timing and lack of teeth in the bills as lawmakers pass legislation in 3 weeks

… tied 54-54, with 108 members. Under House rules, the speaker retains the gavel, unless the Legislature is split 55-55. House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, will retain his position in the current Legislature.  

Michigan Democrats will lose House majority but hold speakership

As 54-54 House tie looms, Democrat Joe Tate keeps gavel

… thanks to House Rule 77, House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, will hold the gavel alone when the House splits 54-54. … On Jan. 13, 1993, Reps. Curtis Hertel Sr., D-Detroit, and Paul Hillegonds, R-Holland, were unanimously … expected to take his new office Nov. 17, The Detroit News reports. Stone will assume her new office …

State broadband plan won’t help rural communities

Bulk of funding will go where it’s needed least

… MIHI program would fund. Instead, the digital divide is caused by low broadband adoption rates. Even though fast service is available, only 65.1% of Detroit households, 70.6% of Flint households, 78.2% of Grand Rapids households and 78.7% of Macomb County households subscribe to the home broadband services …

Let’s Build: Why Michigan Should Embrace Zoning Reform

Issues & Ideas Forum

… may mandate a certain number of parking spots, that all properties look similar, setback limits and other rules unrelated to public safety. Metro Detroit has some of the strictest zoning rules in the country. Across the country, states and local governments have begun to take a second look at zoning …

Michigan lawmakers approve $114 million bailout for school districts, $30M for Highland Park

Unpaid water bills and school debts are assumed by the Michigan taxpayer

… School or for initiatives to improve student achievement in Ypsilanti Community Schools Highland Park’s debt for unpaid water bills to the city of Detroit and later the Great Lakes Water Authority racked up for a decade before lawmakers extended a state bailout. The city of about 8,600 people will receive …

Case closed: Flint Water Crisis ends without a single prosecution

Nessel distances herself from failed effort; Michigan taxpayers have spent $60M; the final bill will be bigger

… Nessel said, was the “final nail in the coffin of the Flint water prosecutions.” Thus far, Michigan taxpayers have spent $60 million on the case. The Detroit News reports that the final bill will be bigger. As Beth LeBlanc writes: The state of Michigan has spent at least $60 million on legal fees alone …

UAW reaches tentative agreements with Stellantis and GM, ending strike

All three automakers are headed back to work; four-day work week left out of deal

… of the 2023 negotiation, it was not included in any of the tentative deals thus far. Now that tentative deals have been announced with all three Detroit automakers, UAW members must ratify the agreement.

Michigan cities ban short-term rentals — a black market is sure to follow

New York City shows what happens with overregulation

… near Holland, banned short-term rentals within its limits. The city of Detroit quietly banned short-term rentals in residential areas before pulling back … severe restrictions as well. As the city’s zoning administrator told The Detroit News: “We don’t allow (some) short-term rentals.” What’s the likely result …

“Renter’s Bill of Rights” Doesn’t Help Renters and Isn’t Right

Luke Dinnan, Jonathan Pommerville Jonathan Pommerville has sunk tens of thousands of dollars into his Detroit neighborhood, fixing dilapidated houses to make them livable and rentable. He’s making the neighborhood better and creating more housing supply. Luke Dinnan and his wife have several rental …

Lockwood Named New Chairman of Mackinac Center Board of Directors

Board also welcomes new director Jennifer Panning

… support of Michigan’s right-to-work law. He is the author of “Belle Isle: Detroit’s Game Changer,” published in 2013. “Rod Lockwood is a champion of free … projects include Little Caesars Arena, the Henry Ford Cancer Center and the Detroit Metropolitan Airport’s McNamara Terminal. The interior tilework in the …

How Will We Turn Michigan Around?

And Why Michigan Matters

… Republican Party was founded in 1854 by a group of abolitionists in Jackson. Detroit was an important stop on the Underground Railroad. Our manufacturing might … as “The Arsenal of Democracy” during World War II. Even our failures (Detroit bankruptcy, Flint water crisis, repealing right-to-work) produce international …

Mackinac in the Media

… argues that lawmakers would have spelled out the frame of the cut if they meant it to be temporary.” The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board The Detroit News The Trade-offs of Paid Leave Policies “Mandating one type of benefit gets in the way of the conversation between employers and employees and …

Whitmer differs with Benson — and Whitmer — on financial disclosure for spouses

Governor cites identity politics for her concern, but bills treat all spouses equally

… language in the legislation, then you should do so in a meaningful way or not at all.” As written, the bills treat spouses of both sexes the same. Detroit News reporter Craig Mauger dug into Whitmer’s time in the Legislature and found that the governor is at odds with her earlier self. Back in 2006, …

Section 2: MCL § 15.232 – Definitions.

… 15.232(m)(iv): This change is a specific response to two entities (the Detroit Zoo and Detroit Institute of the Arts) receiving millage funding, but due to a unique legal …

Michigan House Ethics Committee has not met since June

Transparency legislation is languishing, vice-chair claims

… 102nd Michigan Legislature started work in January, Democrats took control of the House and Senate, promising that an ethics overhaul was coming. The Detroit News described the new majority as “vowing to make the state Legislature more transparent and take action in response to, and not ignore, the problems …

Whitmer might sign fewer laws with Democratic majority

With a Republican legislature, Whitmer signed 278 laws last year. She’s below 200 in 2023.

… power last year, the majority Republicans were kind enough to give Whitmer a train set. They agreed to divert $5 million per year of hotel taxes to Detroit’s QLine through 2039. The Democrats could have done it themselves a month later. But there was no need. Be wary when you read headlines touting bipartisanship. …

Lansing treats taxpayer money like Publishers Clearing House

Lawmakers bring home large, taxpayer-funded checks to their communities. Literally and figuratively.

… least the second time Democrats have used this tactic when spending the people’s money. Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, and Rep. Helena Scott, D-Detroit, donned their Ed McMahon personas to present a large check of $500,000 for a Ferndale recreation center. These gimmicks come at a time when people …

State representative on energy committee owns solar company

Michigan Rep. Joey Andrews claims company is dormant, but records show it was never dissolved

… the three-member commission. Andrews’s sister is a solar lobbyist, The Detroit News reports. That sister, Nealie Andrews, was Andrews’ campaign treasurer, … represent me as an individual benefiting from this vote,” Andrews told The Detroit News. “It’s not a conflict if I don’t benefit.” Parasol’s most recent …

Prolonged UAW strike will ‘collapse’ supply chains, Ford chair warns

Strike at Kentucky Truck Plant could have ripples throughout economy, Ford said

… damage” would come to automakers too slow to negotiate, as reported by The Detroit News. When workers at the Kentucky Truck Plant joined the strike last week, … and Ford against foreign automakers,” Fain said, in remarks published by Detroit News reporter Jordan Grzelewski. “It’s autoworkers everywhere against corporate …

Whitmer’s support for local control may give way to push for solar and wind power

Local zoning decisions stand in the way of state directives

… in the budget that would have prohibited local and state health officials from imposing mask mandates on children under 18, according to Chalkbeat Detroit. When Whitmer was a state senator in 2011, she opposed legislation to let the state take power from local governments. The bill, which Gov. Rick …

Michigan cities ban short-term rentals — a black market is sure to follow

New York City shows what happens with overregulation

… near Holland, banned short-term rentals within its limits. The city of Detroit quietly banned short-term rentals in residential areas before pulling back … severe restrictions as well. As the city's zoning administrator told The Detroit News, “We don’t allow (some) short-term rentals.” What’s the likely result …

Michigan growth council rejects transparency

Growing Michigan Together Council turns Detroit News reporter away from ‘public’ meeting

… reporter trying to cover its meeting Thursday. When Detroit News reporter Craig Mauger showed up Thursday … its first meeting at an undisclosed location in Detroit. Only later did the public learn the location … picnic” at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Detroit. The council’s final report is due on Whitmer’s …