The return of divided government to Lansing will be a welcome change from the progressive steamroller that has crushed Michigan businesses and families the last two years. A Republican House and Democratic Senate figure to cancel a lot of each other’s wish lists for the 103rd Michigan Legislature.
But that does not mean that nothing will get done in Lansing. The Legislature is required to pass a balanced budget each year. The Legislature and governor won’t reach agreement on that before July 1, per recent tradition. This year’s negotiations might even extend beyond the Sept. 30 end of the current fiscal year, but lawmakers will eventually get there.
There are several other policy areas where the Mackinac Center has found at least some bipartisan consensus, and we will have our hand open and outstretched to work with any legislator who shares our priorities.
Open government: Mackinac has long supported extending the state’s Freedom of Information Act to the Legislature and the governor’s office. Bills to do that passed the Senate last year but died when the House imploded during its lame-duck session last December. Those bills were recently reintroduced as Senate bills 1 and 2, and we will resume our work to get those to the governor’s desk before the Legislature’s spring recess. Once those are completed, we will shift our efforts to a series of open-records fixes proposed by a group of House members last year.
Corporate welfare: The tide has recently turned against Michigan’s expensive and unhealthy addiction to company-specific subsidies. We are talking with legislators from both parties about opposing new and continuing programs and implementing a long list of measures to increase transparency and accountability in those that remain.
Housing: There is broad recognition among legislators that Michigan’s housing supply is not adequate. The last Legislature deadlocked on proposed solutions, but the makeup of the new Legislature should shift the conversation toward measures that reduce regulations and increase housing supply.
Barriers to employment: Proposals to ease state occupational licensure requirements are more likely to advance in the 103rd Legislature.
