MIDLAND, Mich. — Improving Michigan’s business climate, giving families greater choice in education and protecting Michiganders against irresponsible energy policies are among a broad list of policy priorities for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The Mackinac Center’s 2022 Policy Recommendations provide actionable and timely recommendations for lawmakers to address pressing issues facing our state.

Michigan's state government revenue is at an all-time high, blowing past expectations, from continued economic growth and unprecedented federal spending. To ensure fiscal stability and economic competitiveness in the future, lawmakers should resist the creation of ongoing spending obligations from state funds and instead return some of the excess funds to Michigan residents and businesses through lowering the personal and corporate income tax rates.

“Fourteen states, including several key competitors, passed broad-based tax rate reductions last year,” said Michael LaFaive, senior director of the Center’s Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative. “Recent federal limits on the deductibility of state and local taxes make such tax rates a much larger factor in where people decide to live and create jobs. Michigan must cut its income tax rates now or risk falling behind sister states that have and are expected to do so.”

Other policy recommendations include:

• Dedicate a portion of growing revenue to road repair
• Enact a Student Opportunity Scholarship program for K-12 education
• Keep schools accountable by enhancing curriculum transparency
• Ensure construction and completion of the Line 5 tunnel
• Expand health care options for all Michigan residents by making permanently suspending Michigan’s antiquated Certificate of Need laws
• Reform Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act

Some of these recommendations, such as reforms to Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act, have well established bipartisan support.

“In December, Michigan legislators wrote a billion-dollar check to a select few auto manufacturers to compensate for our state’s long-term inattention to its mediocre overall business climate,” said David Guenthner, the Center’s senior strategist for state affairs. “Legislators must now dedicate 2022 to fixing uncompetitive policies in a manner that directly benefits all Michigan residents and businesses.”

You can view the complete list of recommendations – including transparency, criminal justice reform, and limits on the power of the administrative state – here.