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Lawmakers who want to pursue an affordability agenda should adopt Mackinac Center recommendations for occupational licensing, housing, health care regulation and labor policy.
1 Reduce the burdens of occupational licensing. Michigan requires licenses for roughly 180 occupations, affecting about one-fifth of the workforce. While the state has enacted bipartisan licensing reforms in recent years, barriers to entering various occupations remain too high. Michigan should regularly review all licensing requirements to ensure they are still necessary. It also should fully recognize licenses issued by other states, making it easier for workers to move here. Criminal convictions are often a bar to getting licensed, but these restrictions should apply only to felony convictions.
2 Lower housing costs by increasing the supply of housing. Government-imposed rules increase the cost of building, which raises prices and limits supply. It is time to reduce the regulatory obstacles to residential construction.
Many options are available.
Speed up the processing of permits. Eliminate unnecessary licensing requirements for builders and construction workers. Have level, statewide zoning to prevent local governments from restricting development through minimum lot sizes, parking space mandates and aesthetic rules. Make duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes legal statewide. Local governments should allow preapproved building plans and have shorter inspection timelines.
3 Increase the supply of health care workers by reforming regulations. The Mackinac Center supports expanding scope-of-practice rules for mid-level providers such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists and nurse anesthetists. Current regulations prevent these professionals from practicing to the full extent of their training and worsen shortages in primary care. Loosening these restrictions would increase access to care and reduce costs.
4 Give workers freedom to opt out of unions. Michigan laws force private sector workers to pay dues or fees to unions. A new legal scheme costs home caregivers hundreds of dollars each year by skimming their modest paychecks and sending funds to the SEIU, a large union. Everyone should have the freedom to join a union — but not be compelled to join. Lawmakers should establish a fair labor environment by restoring Michigan’s right-to-work law.
End the incestuous relationship between unions and politicians by limiting what government employee unions and public managers can collectively bargain over. State and local government agencies should consider construction bids regardless of whether they use union labor or rules.
Adopting these proposals, which reflect the Mackinac Center’s broader push for deregulation and labor policy changes, will help the people of Michigan in 2026 and beyond.
