In response to the findings of the Statewide Energy Assessment and under a further directive by Gov. Whitmer, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy released the “Upper Peninsula Energy Task Force Committee Recommendations Part I – Propane Supply” in April 2020. This task force was created by Gov. Whitmer in June 2019 and directed to “consider all available information and make recommendations that ensure the U.P.’s energy needs are met in a manner that is reliable, affordable, and environmentally sound.” Their report on propane supply offered 14 recommendations “to better track and anticipate supply and demand, minimize disruption impact, and provide a more cohesive plan for those who are disproportionally impacted by high energy costs in the U.P.”
We analyze the potential impacts and feasibility of these recommendations in this report. We also explore the use of alternative fuels to propane such as natural gas and electricity to provide for winter heating needs in the Upper Peninsula.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy invited a variety of conservation experts to participate in a policy workshop. During the one-day meeting, workshop participants were each given a block of time to present their views on private conservation in the state of Michigan. Each described the strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and results they saw from their personal and sector perspective.
In the meeting, participants were encouraged to leverage individual decision-making, private property rights and voluntary trade to improve conservation in the state. Further discussion and interaction helped to clarify and prioritize incentives involved with conserving natural areas.
This report summarizes the policy recommendations discussed at this workshop.
The Emergency Powers of Governor Act is the law Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is using to unilaterally control the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This report explains how this law was used by previous governors. Until 2020, it was used 11 times in response to five emergency situations: labor unrest in Hillsdale in 1964, urban riots in 1967, more riots in 1968, high mercury levels in waters near St. Clair in 1970 and for a riot in Ypsilanti in 1970.
This booklet contains the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation’s final legal filing in a nationally known case involving the illegal unionization of Michigan’s home-based day care business owners and providers as government employees. Wright argued the case in the Michigan courts on behalf of Sherry Loar, Michelle Berry and Paulette Silverson, who each own home-based day care businesses.
The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation sued to end the DHS' illegal diversion of so-called "union dues" from state subsidy checks received by home-based day care providers who watch children from low-income families. The "dues" were funneled to a government-employee union that purports to represent more than 40,000 of Michigan's home-based day care providers, who are actually private business owners and independent contractors.
The case was ruled moot by the Michigan Supreme Court after the DHS ceased to collect the dues and the DHS director stated that these home-based day care providers are not public employees.
For policymakers and voters serious about restoring freedom and economic vitality in the Great Lakes State, the Mackinac Center presents the following 101 recommendations.
This study analyzing the impact of several major economic development programs run by the state of Michigan dating back to 1983. The authors use the National Establishment Time Series database to track the performance of firms that were offered some form of fiscal incentive from the state. It compares those firms' job growth to those of similar firms that were not offered incentives.
This analysis finds that only three of the nine programs studied had a statistically significant positive impact on job growth for firms that were offered incentives, but this job growth came at a significant cost: on average, the state offered nearly $600,000 worth of incentives for every job created.
Over 2,500 homes and buildings were damaged by flooding in mid-Michigan on May 19, 2020, when an aging dam failed on the Tittabawassee River, causing the cascading failure of a second dam immediately downstream. Initial reports indicated that as many as 150 homes and businesses were damaged beyond repair. Approximately 11,000 residents were hurriedly evacuated ahead of the flooding that caused as much as $200 million in damages.
This report examines the circumstances that contributed to the failure of these dams.
