Happy Valentine’s Day from the Mackinac Center! You don't require a conviction to take possession of my heart, Valentine. (Read more here).
Unlike the MEDC and its corporate welfare, I can't keep it a secret any longer: I want you to be my Valentine. (Read more here).
If you think states mismanage the pensions of their own employees, just wait until they get their hands on the retirement savings of private sector workers. Thankfully, Congress may undo an Obama-era regulation that could have removed safeguards for private pensions and forced some employers into government-run retirement accounts.
Cigarette tax increases are often justified on the belief that they will force people to quit smoking, but new research from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Tax Foundation suggests that many smokers aren’t kicking the habit. Instead, they are turning to the black market for cheaper smokes.
If the first weeks of 2017 are any indication, this could be a banner year for labor reform in the United States.
Days into January, Kentucky became the 27th right-to-work state, sparking what could be a wave of labor reforms giving workers across the country more freedom. F. Vincent Vernuccio, director of labor policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, told The Huffington Post that Missouri and New Hampshire were next in line:
During school hours, in front of students, Vassar Public Schools held an event which explicitly advocated for a school millage request. A panel that featured a private citizen and a group of administrators was videotaped and put up on the district’s Facebook page.
By Jack McHugh
Senate Bill 40, Expand state subsidies for particular companies on state line: Passed 24 to 13 in the Senate
To let particular businesses that are near the state line, and that have been selected by political appointees on a state 'economic development' program board, to each collect up to $10 million in state business subsidies for hiring people who do not live in Michigan.
In a meeting between the new president and law enforcement officials, a Texas sheriff complained about legislation that would require a person be convicted of a crime before the state took ownership of his or her property. President Donald Trump, wrongly, disparaged legislators who support this reform to the forfeiture system.
By Ben DeGrow
The Smith family in DeWitt has endured more than its share of challenging circumstances. But having access to an online charter school has been a great help.
During a single week in 2007, Sandy Smith was diagnosed with breast cancer and her son Andrew was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. After Andrew passed away at eight years old, the Smiths enrolled their two surviving children in a cyber school.
Some modest proposals to reduce the income tax have been introduced in the state Legislature. This triggered a backlash from pundits and politicians as they defend current spending levels by forecasting doom if the state dares to let Michigan families and small businesses keep more of their own money.
On Wednesday, Feb. 1, a bipartisan group of some 70 state House members announced that they would support a package of bills to reform Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act. That could mean more transparency for taxpayers and voters. That is good news. But there is more to be done, and lawmakers should start by opening up the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to more sunshine.
By Jack McHugh
This week the Senate adopted a multi-bill criminal justice, parole and probation reform package, highlights of which are reported here. House members received their committee assignments last week and will hold their first meetings next week.
Senate Bill 19, Cut off parole absconders from welfare: Passed 34 to 1 in the Senate
By Ben DeGrow
In some circles, the myth persists that more money automatically translates into better education results. At a recent legislative hearing to explore changes to the state’s failing-schools law, one education official made a claim that collapses under a brief examination.
The authors believe in free markets and free people, and therefore, peaceful choice in association through legal immigration. The millions of immigrants to the United States every year are powerful evidence that “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is still an unattainable dream for the average person around the world.
Michigan’s 21st Century Infrastructure Commission recently came out with a report that made 107 recommendations to improve the state’s telecommunications networks, energy, transportation, drinking water and sewers. Media and state pundits jumped on it, claiming it says that Michigan needs $4 billion each year in additional infrastructure spending. But that’s not exactly what the report actually says.
As the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee moves closer to a vote on sending President Trump’s nominee to lead the EPA to the full Senate, the battle over Scott Pruitt’s record is being reinvigorated. His Jan. 18 hearing and the responses to his written testimony were predictably combative and just as predictably hyperpartisan. Earlier today, Senate Democrats took a strong stance against Pruitt when all ten members of the Environment and Public Works committee boycotted the vote in an attempt to stall his nomination process.
Wayne County Executive Warren Evans has issued an ultimatum to the people who propose to build a professional soccer complex in exchange for the “Fail Jail” site in downtown Detroit. Evans said that the project must not cost taxpayers any more than simply finishing the jail as originally planned would. That’s simply not good enough.
By Kahryn Riley
States that make it harder for someone to work legally, typically through licensing requirements, tend to have higher levels of unemployment. Two studies released this past November show how these barriers are a particular problem for ex-offenders, thereby increasing their likeliness to reoffend.
Every week in Lansing, big businesses lobby Michigan legislators for more and larger tax breaks and subsidies. As they do, regular taxpayers shouldn’t forget that Michigan already pays out hundreds of millions of dollars to favored firms.
Politicians justify those wealth transfers by pointing to promises of big employment gains in the future. But citizens should take note that the state’s job picture is already strong — and for reasons that have nothing to do with corporate welfare handouts for a few lucky developers and business owners.
By Kahryn Riley
The first 50 bills introduced in the Michigan Senate this year contain many proposals dealing with criminal justice.
These are the latest iterations of ideas that have been hotly debated in Lansing for several years. All of the following bills also appeared within a bundle of 2016 Senate proposals that occupied lawmakers and lobbyists well into December.
The Michigan School Reform Office has once again released a school rankings list that only tells part of the school-performance story.
The 2016 Top-to-Bottom rankings assessed schools only on students’ test scores, which can be problematic for schools with a high percentage of financially disadvantaged students. The state’s system is better at measuring the student poverty rate of a school than its performance and should be improved to provide context to raw test scores.
As families across the country celebrate National School Choice Week, lawmakers in Washington, D.C., are considering the nomination of Betsy DeVos, a leading advocate for educational freedom who is positioned to be the next U.S. secretary of education.
By Jack McHugh
No bills have been voted on so far in the opening weeks of the 2017-18 Michigan Legislature. This report contains some newly introduced bills of general interest.
House Joint Resolution A: Establish part time legislature
Introduced by Rep. Michael Webber (R), to place before voters in the next general election a constitutional amendment that would limit annual legislative sessions to 90 consecutive days. More than 20 part time legislature proposals have been introduced in recent Legislatures. Proposals to change the state constitution need a 2/3 supermajority in the House and Senate to be placed on the ballot.
In April 2019, the administrator for the state’s economic development programs, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, will officially close. The closing ought to force lawmakers to reassess the state’s economic development policies.
The MEDC is an “interlocal agency,” created by an agreement between the state’s Strategic Fund Authority and a number of local government economic development agencies. This agreement has a 10-year term and, by agreement, can be renewed for two five-year terms.
Editor's Note: This piece was originally published in the Kokomo Tribune.
The state of Indiana is facing a push by advocates to raise cigarette excise tax rates by $1.50 per pack, a move that would affect both smokers and nonsmokers.
If the increase is adopted, Hoosier taxes would leap to $2.495 per pack. Instead of being a cigarette export state — commonly selling cigarettes to residents of other states — Indiana would become an import state. Its smokers would travel to other states for their cigarettes, and profits from large-scale smuggling would become more enticing.
By Ben DeGrow
The seventh edition of National School Choice Week has arrived. This year brings the largest organized effort yet to shine “a positive spotlight on effective education options for every child.” Nationally, there are more than 21,000 events planned — 730 of them in Michigan alone, including a major Detroit celebration on Friday featuring the passionate, charismatic educator, Dr. Steve Perry.
