The following are a few of the biggest bills and issues the Mackinac Center is monitoring during the Michigan Legislature's lame-duck session. The Legislature has spiked government spending and passed $4.6 billion in special corporate subsidies in the past two years. Despite that spending, Michigan has seen five straight months of employment losses. Yet special breaks for chosen businesses remain the top priority of outgoing lawmakers.

Make It In MI Fund — Senate Bills 559 and 562 would rename and expand a failed corporate subsidy program. The current legislature has passed $4.6 billion in select business incentives, which have created a minuscule number of jobs.

Mundy Township "Economic Development" Project (no bill number yet) — A 1,000-acre site that may or may not be an "advanced manufacturing" facility in the future. The state has already approved $250 million to develop the site, and Gov. Whitmer is likely to request hundreds of millions of dollars more. The township supervisor who supported the project was recently voted out and replaced by a challenger who ran on opposition to the project. That change may "throw a wrench" in the plans.

Michigan Innovation Fund — House Bills 5651-5653 would bring back the state's failed state venture capital fund. A previous iteration spent more than $600,000 per job and was dinged for numerous problems in a 2018 Auditor General report.

HIRE in MI — Senate Bills 579-581 would allow up to $2.9 billion to be withheld from individual income taxes and redistributed to select corporations. A previous version of this plan, "Good Jobs For Michigan," promised to create thousands of jobs. Over the life of that program, only six deals were approved and only one created any jobs.

Tax Credit for Union Dues — House Bill 4235 would allow union members to write off union dues on their taxes. This is a refundable credit, meaning unions could raise the cost of dues and let taxpayers pick up the tab.

Paid Sick Leave and Minimum Wage — A recent Michigan Supreme Court decision reinstated a law that would hike the state minimum wage to $15 per hour and eliminate the "tipped credit." It also established an extensive mandatory "paid sick leave" law with broad repercussions for Michigan's struggling economy. Businesses are forced to provide employees 72 hours of leave a year. Workers can "no call, no show" for work at any time. Unused leave automatically rolls over to the next year. Businesses must allow minimal time increments for employees to take leave. And the law establishes a "rebuttable presumption" that shifts the legal onus onto employers and opens them up to severe legal liability if they need to lay off workers. Legislators have been working to counter some of the negative effects of the law. House Bill 6056 would save the tipped credit for workers, and House Bill 6057 could limit the worst parts of the sick leave bill.

Film Subsidies — House Bills 4907-4908 and Senate Bills 438-439 authorize more than $2 billion in transferable tax credits to filmmakers, subsidizing up to 30% of the cost of production. A previous program spent $500 million with minimal net job creation.

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