Program |
Gross Appropriation |
Appropriation Breakdown |
Pre-college Programs in |
$452,900[100] |
All from GF/GP |
Engineering and the Sciences |
Program Description:
The Pre-college Programs in Engineering and the Sciences are conducted for 7th to 12th grade students in the Detroit public school system. The programs are designed to "prepare and motivate" minority students to pursue degrees in engineering or the sciences.
Recommended Action:
It is true that a regrettably low number of minority students from the Detroit public school system attend college, and that an even smaller number attend college to pursue an engineering or science degree. This program, however, allocates state resources based on race and is inherently discriminatory. The state should end all programs that allocate benefits on the basis of race and ethnicity and adopt instead a color-blind policy of non-discrimination.
Program |
Gross Appropriation |
Appropriation Breakdown |
|
||
Boiler Inspection Program; |
$2,772,000[101] |
All from Special Revenue Funds |
Elevator Inspection Program |
Program Description:
The Board of Boiler Rules runs the Boiler Inspection program. It is comprised of 11 members and performs the following duties: prescribes uniform rules for boilers; provides for the licensing of boiler inspectors, installers, and repairers; sets fees for licenses, permits, inspections, and certificates; provides penalties for the violation of codes, rules, and standards.
The Elevator Safety Board runs the Elevator Inspection program. It is comprised of 10 members and performs the following duties: promulgates rules regarding the use of elevators; prepares examinations of elevators; issues elevator contractor licenses.
Recommended Action:
The Boiler and Elevator Inspection programs should be eliminated. According to a Department official, forty-five percent of Michigan's 68,000 registered boilers are already inspected privately by insurance companies.[102] The state currently inspects uninsured boilers, while insurance companies inspect insured boilers. This policy should change, with boiler owners assuming full responsibility for insuring and inspecting their boilers without state intervention.
The state currently inspects all elevators except for those in the City of Detroit. With respect tot elevator inspections, the Department of Management and Budget has written: "The state is unable to keep up with elevator inspections. The owners of buildings and their insurers have a compelling financial interest in making certain elevators are in safe working order. The state should discontinue this function and allow the private sector to develop elevator inspections as an industry. [T]he same argument made for elevator inspections is appropriate for boiler inspections."[103]