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 20 of 6645

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.