By Derk Wilcox
Lawyers in most states have to be members of a mandatory “integrated” bar association before they can practice law. These associations charge annual dues in the hundreds of dollars. Failure to pay means an attorney can’t practice law.
State bar associations perform oversight for the legal profession, usually at the direction of the states’ supreme courts, policing ethics violations, admitting lawyers, and maintaining education standards. But these associations also frequently embrace political positions.
Michigan lawmakers resolved a financial problem that still threatens other states. Thanks to a long-term effort, they have set aside money to pay for the health insurance costs of retired public school employees, according to a recent actuarial valuation.
Corporate welfare policies that Michigan now takes for granted were extremely unpopular during the debate on the state's current Constitution, which still retains explicit bans on giving taxpayer money to politically favored corporations.
Gov. Whitmer signed $4.7 billion in subsidies to select businesses in 2024, and all but ten lawmakers voted for at least $1.5 million, according to the Mackinac Center’s Business Subsidy Scorecard.
This article originally appeared in The Detroit News April 8, 2025.
“That fresh breeze you feel is the wide open Overton Window,” Elon Musk wrote on X March 20.
Musk isn’t the only one talking about the Overton Window. People on the left and the right use this concept to explain public policy. Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wrote that voter apathy about taxes “marks a profound shift of the so-called Overton Window.” New York Times writer Paul Krugman sprinkled Overton Window references in his columns. Vice President JD Vance mentioned the Overton Window when explaining President Donald Trump’s approach to Ukraine. Several years ago, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow devoted a segment of her show to the concept.
This article originally appeared in City Journal March 24, 2025.
The Department of Government Efficiency is providing a public service—though not only in the way its supporters intend. In its push to streamline the bureaucracy, DOGE has sent federal unions into a frenzy of opposition, underscoring the need for a long-overdue reform: ending collective bargaining for federal employees.
Few industries have received more protection from the federal government than the steel industry, with U.S. Steel being a major corporate beneficiary. But the favors didn’t help the company grow or become competitive. It has been declining and open to being bought out by another company.
By Molly Macek
Mississippi outperformed Michigan and most other states on the most recent national fourth grade reading test. When factoring in socioeconomic status, its students surpassed Michigan's even more. Mississippi’s achievement gains come after the state adopted reforms that target literacy and school accountability. Michigan lawmakers repealed similar policies in 2023.
Right to Work laws and the state of American higher education remain two of the most hotly debated issues in public policy, touching on questions of individual freedom, institutional power, and economic opportunity. George Leef, director of external relations at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, has spent years studying both. He recently joined the Overton Window Podcast to share his insights on how these systems have evolved—and where they’ve gone off course.
By Molly Macek
The Educational Choice for Children Act, which was introduced earlier this year in the U.S. House and Senate, could bring more educational opportunity to Michigan students. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, defenders of the public school status quo have brought out their long knives in an effort to undermine a policy that has the potential to help families across the state.
Politicians in the state of Washington are proposing a 66% increase in the cigarette excise tax as well as an outright ban on menthol cigarettes and other flavored nicotine products. More than a third of cigarettes currently consumed in Washington have been smuggled into the state. Imposing stricter, more costly laws is likely to increase that alarming figure.
Michigan residents increasingly use NIMBY, or Not In My Back Yard, tactics to prohibit the construction of stuff they don’t like. This includes using government power to:
Some people don’t like to see their town or neighborhood change. And what your neighbors do with their property can affect the value of yours. But we should not use the government to enforce these preferences. It is an inappropriate use of government power.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called on America to build more in her recent speech in Washington, D.C. But the state’s performance during her administration has fallen far short of the governor’s claims.
The Detroit News looked at Michigan’s manufacturing trends prior to the speech. Over Whitmer’s six years as governor, Michigan lost 27,600 manufacturing jobs, according to data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only New York, at 30,100 fewer manufacturing jobs, and California, at 65,000 fewer manufacturing jobs, had steeper declines over that time, according to a Detroit News review. The largest jumps have been in Texas, which added 71,200 manufacturing jobs, and Florida, which added 48,500.
This article originally appeared in The Detroit News April 1, 2025.
Ten years ago, the Mackinac Center examined Michigan’s sprawling and disorganized legal code to determine the exact number of crimes in the state’s law books. We found that Michigan had 3,102 crimes — 1,209 felonies and 1,893 misdemeanors. Over a five-year period, from 2008 to 2013, the Legislature expanded the criminal code, adding an average of 45 new crimes to the books annually.
China’s new export restrictions on rare earths show one of the many ways decarbonization policies are disadvantaging our economy and threatening our national security. A wind, solar, and battery-powered future America would be heavily reliant on China. Decarbonization would disadvantage our economy and threaten our national security.
By Paul Godek
The New York Times’ most recent list of the top places in the world to visit included … the city of Detroit! Congratulations, Detroit. The New York Times praises the city’s rehabilitated Michigan Central Station, riverfront parks, museums, the soon-to-be-open Gordie Howe Bridge and a plethora of notable hotels, restaurants and shops. Kudos to all the hard-working, dedicated people helping to restore the city.
This article originally appeared in The Detroit News March 25, 2025.
Michigan faces a crisis that demands immediate government attention. Just scan some headlines — paying special attention to the opinion pages — and you will get the message loud and clear: We have a crisis on our hands. Many, in fact.
This article originally appeared in The Detroit News March 4, 2025.
Five years ago on March 10, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here in Michigan, the pandemic inflicted a toll, with 40,000 confirmed deaths, according to the state. Five years later, the consequences of Michigan’s lockdowns deserve to be examined.
As artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies rapidly reshape our world, legal scholars and policymakers face new challenges in regulating their impact. Daniel Crane, the Richard W. Pogue professor of law at the University of Michigan and a member of the Mackinac Center’s Board of Scholars, explores these issues on The Overton Window podcast.
By Jason Hayes
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made a notorious 2018 campaign promise to “fix the damn roads.” After the Legislature decisively rejected her initial attempt to raise gasoline taxes by $0.45 per gallon in order to finance road maintenance, the governor took another seven years to unveil her second plan.
In Michigan, you can get a teaching degree and successfully work as a teacher in a school — yet lose your job if you are not a good test taker.
The Michigan Test for Teacher Certification is a 100-question multiple-choice exam. It was first established in the early 1990s. There is little evidence that it has helped Michigan turn out better teachers.
Michigan parents are blocked by the state constitution from exercising school choice options for their children in kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school. Yet strangely, there is bipartisan support for state financial assistance to parents and students who choose to attend private preschools and colleges.
This article originally appeared in The Detroit News March 18, 3025.
Voters, economists and even many lawmakers agree that excessive regulations stifle job growth. But ask politicians, “Which regulations would you cut?” and they may struggle to provide a single example.
Dear Members of the Board of Trustees:
I watched with interest the March 12 board meeting, which addressed different ideas for housing the township’s work, including an expanded or new township hall.
During a comment period local resident Jim Engler said that the township “is now tied with Mt. Pleasant for the worst and least friendly area for development in the state of Michigan.” He urged you to “clear that with any developer in the state.” He also laid the township’s poor population growth at the feet of its officials' “overregulation, excessive fees and [a] general anti-business attitude.” He was not the only citizen to level familiar complaints, which present some challenges you should consider.
Who holds back the electric car? The answer to that old question turns out to contain surprising insight about the professed concerns of “climate activists.”
In the past month, Tesla electric vehicles have been vandalized in dozens of incidents. The electric vehicles, their dealerships, and their charging stations have been spray painted with swastikas, keyed, shot, and burned with Molotov cocktails. And it hasn’t been oil barons or auto tycoons committing these crimes.
Michigan’s House members approved bills in March that would give a long-term solution to the state’s decade-plus road funding debate.
Michigan’s state and local governments own roads that get people where they want to go. It is the responsibility of these governments to keep the roads in good working order. But roads are falling apart faster than they are being repaired, and it will take more public dollars to get roads on the path to continual improvement.
