Font size:
Each year the Mackinac Center hosts public forums around the state to educate citizens about critical policy matters, engage with supporters, and promote the ideals of free markets with minimal government intervention. These open discussions ensure that attendees have the information they need to participate in shaping the future of Michigan.
Mackinac Center staffers and policy experts provided key insights at our summer events, covering issues ranging from corporate welfare and government spending to the state’s changing policy landscape.
Michael LaFaive, senior director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center, teamed up with John Mozena, president of the Center for Economic Accountability, for a discussion of the almost $3 billion worth of state corporate welfare spending in the first quarter of 2023. The two speakers, with extensive experience in economic development policy, discussed the value taxpayers receive for this spending. They also evaluated the historical performance of corporate subsidy programs and examined the implications for Michigan’s long-term economic performance and population growth.
Another event featured James Hohman, director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center, and Vance Ginn, founder and president of Ginn Economic Consulting. They analyzed how the Michigan Legislature spends your tax dollars and assessed the long-term sustainability of this spending. Hohman and Ginn also looked at the achievements and shortcomings of efforts to control the growth of state government spending, in Michigan and around the nation.
Our final policy event focused on the implications of repealing Michigan’s decade-old right-to-work law. Mackinac Center Director of Labor Policy Steve Delie and Shane Hernandez, president of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan, delved into the wide-ranging effects of the repeal and other policies that have been enacted or are pending in the Legislature. Delie and Hernandez shed light on how these changes will affect the daily lives of Michiganders, our families, and our way of life.
