If lawmakers were to cut the Michigan income tax rate, state revenues would still grow. A cut would make good on a 2007 pledge to phase out what was supposed to be a temporary tax increase.
Parents who need financial help in getting their children to a school of their choice should receive state- funded transportation scholarships
In 2020, Michigan lawmakers resisted the temptation to spend taxpayer money on corporate handouts. They should hold firm in 2021
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s preference for using debt rather than current tax revenue for road repairs means that the state is spending less on fixing roads than it otherwise would.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed a need to offer more options and flexibility for students with special needs.
The governor’s attempt to close rather than upgrade the Line 5 pipeline is part of a broader environmental policy that could subject Michigan residents to higher costs, restricted access to essential energy, and a diminished quality of life.
State government could increase its revenue by removing the favors it grants by law to a few special interests.
Kindergarten enrollment at Michigan school districts is down this year, suggesting that dissatisfaction with remote learning has lead parents to seek other options.
Given the chance to opt out of the Michigan Education Association by both a right-to-work law and the U.S. Supreme Court, public school employees have left the union in large numbers.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she wants residents of the U.P. to have affordable and reliable energy, but her opposition to relocating the Line 5 pipeline works against that goal.
Strategies developed by state experts do not include governor’s actions
The Michigan Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer acted without constitutional authority by unilaterally issuing COVID-related executive orders after an initial 28-day period. In doing so, the court upheld the separation of powers, a key constitutional protection for citizens.
The law Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is using to justify her unilateral COVID executive orders has historically been used primarily to deal with riots, and when it wasn’t, it stirred controversy.
Do state government efforts to encourage businesses to create jobs do any good? Not when their costs are considered.
Lawmakers have decided to give money to districts for students they don’t have, an act that slams the door on parents scrambling for options.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer once loosened some of the state’s licensing rules for medical professionals as a way to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Those changes ought to be made permanent, not reversed.
Though it may appear that tax credits shrink the size of government, they can do just the opposite.
Lawmakers can make it easier for parents to deal with the uncertainties of the next school year by adopting policies that give them the options they need.
As states reopen their societies, they ought to do so without handing out select subsidies to businesses.
The Line 5 pipeline should be buried 100 feet below the lakebed.
School districts and families will need more flexibility to cope with schooling in a reopened society
Michigan should end its prohibition on sales of to-go mixed drinks.
The actions of state regulators and and the private owner of a dam, combined with heavy rains, led to extensive flooding in the Midland, Michigan, area.
The state has dedicated certain tax collections for roads, but it will have less to spend as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As part of the state response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer changed some key regulations affecting health care. Michigan should enact these changes into law.
The COVID-19 pandemic will cause state income tax collections to fall and could cause spending on Medicaid to increase.
Michigan will receive at least $478 million in extra federal funding that can be used for K-12 education. Here are some ways it can put that money to use.
Policymakers and others should consider ways to keep the economy strong.
Michigan’s legislators and governors have changed laws and regulations in recent years in ways that will help the state respond to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Several state laws give Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer the authority to undertake certain steps during times of emergencies and disasters.
Efforts to address climate change should not ruin the economy or harm the environment.
The Mackinac Center’s Context and Performance Report Card rewards school leaders whose students perform better than expected on state tests.
Citizens have the power to decide how much their local governments collect in taxes.
A report from the United Way gives an unusual and unhelpful way to estimate the extent of poverty in Michigan.
Proposed laws now in the Michigan Legislature could reform the way Michigan subsidizes a few businesses in the name of creating jobs.
School elections do not get enough attention from voters. Some reforms from state government could help.
Michigan lawmakers have only a few months to create a budget for the next fiscal year, address the Medicaid program and enact criminal justice reforms.
In 2019, lawmakers dialed back taxpayer support for business subsidies, perhaps reflecting a change in thinking.
A legislator from northern Michigan wants the state to restart taxpayer funding of the Pure Michigan advertising campaign. Lawmakers should let its funding stay at the current level: zero.
A conflict between a Republican Legislature and a Democratic governor led to restrained growth in the state budget.
Michigan has reformed some of the many licenses it requires for people to hold a job. Lawmakers should continue that work in the new year.
A set of regulations and laws that a high school student proposed as part of a biology class suggests that Michigan schools should take a closer look at the environmental impact of renewable energy sources when teaching about the benefits.
Without the Legislature’s timely intervention, the commission’s decision threatened to make it more difficult for cancer patients in rural areas of Michigan to access this treatment.
Some Michigan classrooms lack a teacher with full credentials, even though many people with teaching credentials aren’t teaching. Rather than focusing heavily on producing more teachers, the state should find ways to entice some of those teachers into the classroom.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was right to veto funding for the Pure Michigan advertising campaign in the new state budget.
While Gov. Gretchen Whitmer made Michigan’s roads the centerpiece of her election campaign, her veto of extra money for road repair shows that her most important priority is to increase how much state government taxes Michigan residents.
The new ban on flavored vaping products is harmful to public health and respect for law.
Michigan’s two big electric utilities cite their build-up of solar facilities as evidence of their environmental concern. But solar facilities pose significant environmental challenges, which the companies have not adequately prepared for.
Most local governments in Michigan need to shore up the pension systems they have for their retirees.
Employers should have a larger role in shaping career and technical education programs.
