Last month, I wrote an op-ed that argued against state subsidies for Amtrak. In that piece, I estimated that this year Michigan taxpayers will give Amtrak passengers at least $49.51 (and maybe as high as $98.11) per roundtrip. The Michigan Department of Transportation took issue with these figures, and claims that the real subsidy cost is only $29.94 per passenger.
In a presentation for the Institute For Public Policy and Social Research, Michigan State University Professor Charles Ballard argues that more state funding for higher education is a must.
But the main evidence presented does not show his case.
One of Ballard's points is that having a degree is more important than ever, given the decline in manufacturing jobs. Thus, Michigan policymakers should direct more tax money to universities, reversing the decline in direct appropriations in recent years.
Fiscal Policy Director Michael LaFaive explained in The Grand Rapids Press today that a hike in the minimum wage would do more harm than good.
“Economically, it’s a very harmful policy that hurts more people than it helps and particularly the poorest among the lowest income, because owners can’t just eat the cost of this increase in the mandated minimum, so they’re going to choose the most productive among their existing employees to keep,” he said.
By Jack McHugh
A Detroit News editorial weighs in with a favorable opinion of a proposed Detroit "Business Improvement Zone" tax, which it denies is a tax and reports will sustain an existing downtown cleanup campaign funded by some property owners.
But it's not hard to see why these so-called "BIZ assessments" are unfair and bad public policy.
Senate Bill 337: Revise business tax collection procedures and deadlines: Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate
To establish limits on the personal liability of a business owner or manager for taxes the firm collects from another person but then fails to pay to the state. Also, to require the Department of Treasury confirm a business's known tax liability for a purchaser within 60 days if the owner requests this, and establish limits on a buyer's liability for unpaid taxes. Also, to require the department to complete audits and "clear" a taxpayer within specified time limits. Finally, the bill would establish that if a tax overpayment refund claim is not approved within one year it can be considered denied, which lets the taxpayer appeal to the state tax tribunal or court of claims. Note: After Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed Senate Bill 64 due to department objections to some details, that bill's other provisions were folded into this one. Both measures respond to complaints from the business community that the department is being overly and unreasonably aggressive in enforcing various business-related tax provisions.
(Editor’s note: This commentary originally appeared at www.burtfolsom.com on Jan. 21. Folsom, a professor at Hillsdale College, is the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s senior fellow in economic education.)
The subject of "equality" is the source of much political debate these days.
Gov. Rick Snyder insists that his proposal to pledge away $350 million of state revenue over 20 years and drop it into the Detroit bankruptcy pot is not a taxpayer bailout.
Call it what you will, but statewide taxpayers will foot the bill and Detroit will get the money.
Statewide and national media quickly turned to Mackinac Center experts for an analysis of why Gov. Rick Snyder’s $350 million bailout for Detroit is wrong.
Fiscal Policy Director Michael LaFiave was cited in both an article and editorial in The Detroit News, as well as in MLive and Crain’s Detroit Business. LaFaive also discussed the issue on "The Tony Conley Show" on WILS AM1320 in Lansing.
At a press conference Wednesday, Gov. Rick Snyder explained why he wants to give $350 million in state money — which he insists is not a bailout — to Detroit.
Details are lacking, but Gov. Snyder says he wants an "investment" from state tobacco revenue settlement funds to match a generous offer of support from private foundations. He says this would protect Detroit pensioners and the Detroit Institute of Arts collection.
Patrick Wright, director of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, was a guest on “The Frank Beckmann Show” on WJR AM760 this morning, discussing a case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday in which he and Mackinac Center Executive Vice President Michael Reitz filed an amicus brief. Both were present for oral arguments in Washington, D.C., Tuesday in Harris v. Quinn.
Washington Post columnist George Will cites Michigan Capitol Confidential and its coverage of the SEIU dues skim that took $34 million from Michigan’s most vulnerable residents in a column today about a U.S. Supreme Court case involving a similar scheme in Illinois.
Imagine a state law that required supermarkets to get permission from the government to install a new freezer case or build a new store. Before they could proceed, managers would have to go hat-in-hand to a board consisting of political appointees, some of whom may even have ties to the store’s competitors.
Just before Gov. Rick Snyder began his State of the State address Thursday evening, a principal in Escanaba tweeted:
"When Gov Snyder claims school funding has increased keep in mind that Escanaba gets less money per pupil than in 2011"
The claim was popular, drawing retweets from Progress Michigan and Mark Schauer, the Democratic candidate for governor.
Every year, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy tallies up the policy recommendations made by Michigan's governor in his or her State of the State address, sorting them into two categories: Proposals to expand government vs. proposals to limit it.
Over the years this interesting (if unscientific) exercise has offered insights into the attitudes toward government of each governor. As Gov. Rick Snyder enters the final year of what he hopes will be his first term, the average number of government expansions vs. limitations in his four State of the State speeches is within the range established by the past five Michigan governors during their first full term* (though Gov. Jennifer Granholm was an expansion "outlier"):
House Bill 4866: Authorize new bicycle rider hand signals: Passed 36 to 1 in the Senate
To establish new signals for bicycle riders. Left turns would be indicated by extending the left arm straight out; right turns by either extending the right arm, or the left arm with forearm raised (which is the current standard), and slowing or stopping by “extending the left hand and arm downward.”
Fiscal Policy Director Michael LaFaive discussed the speech with Michael Cohen on WILS AM1320 in Lansing, and his tally on the number of government expansions and limitations offered by Gov. Snyder was detailed in the Grand Haven Tribune.
Education Policy Director Audrey Spalding told the Detroit Free Press that Gov. Snyder’s claims about increased education funding “is certainly consistent with our analysis.”
Dr. Ted Bolema, an adjunct scholar with the Center, writes in today’s Detroit News about the benefits customers can receive through competition in the electricity market. He will discuss the matter at an Issues & Ideas forum scheduled for noon on Jan. 22 in Lansing. You can read his policy brief on the topic here.
Research Associate Jarrett Skorup recently debated the topic, "Should Michigan raise the minimum wage?" as part of the Coffee House Debate Series at the Hauenstein Center at Grand Valley State University.
Last week, Eric Mosher of PIRGIM and I published a piece about how the state can increase transparency at the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
Legislative discussions about how to spend the projected state budget surplus show just how necessary it is to implement our recommendations. Much of the surplus is due to the timing of substantial refundable tax credits to specific companies, yet Michigan residents cannot be told who is being paid this taxpayer money or what the state is getting in return.
The recent announcement that philanthropic foundations may donate $330 million to help the Detroit Institute of Arts, which would also help city pensioners avoid the consequences of Detroit government mismanagement, sounds like great news.
Unfortunately, there may be a hook: A requirement that the state treasury contribute, which would convert voluntary private generosity into a coerced taxpayer bailout.
Mackinac Center board member Rod Lockwood was a guest on Fox Business Tuesday discussing his idea to turn Belle Isle into an economic powerhouse rivaling Hong Kong. P.J. O’Rourke also wrote about the idea recently in The Wall Street Journal.
Lockwood last year discussed the idea with John Stossel on Fox Business.
The story of a Michigan family battling multiple disabilities that has been devastated by Obamacare — as first reported by Michigan Capitol Confidential — is drawing national media attention.
The Daily Caller, Examiner.com, The Blaze and The Christian Post have all covered the plight of the Davert family from Bay City, Mich. The Bay City Times has also reported on the matter.
Labor Policy Director F. Vincent Vernuccio testified before a committee of the Missouri Legislature Monday on a proposed right-to-work law in that state, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Vernuccio dispelled several myths about right-to-work, explaining “All it does is give a worker the freedom to say, ‘Yes, my union is doing a good job and I want to support them,’ or ‘No, my union is not doing a good job,’” he said. “All this does is take a way a union’s ability to get a worker fired if they say, ‘No, I don’t want to pay you.’”
There have been many studies debating the merits of right-to-work legislation. Because state economies are so large and complex, it is difficult to tease out exactly how much of an effect different policies can have.
For example, consider that Michigan gains and loses approximately 800,000 jobs every year.
A corporate welfare scheme that sputtered during a downturn in the economy four years ago is back with a new name but the same premise — government spending tax dollars to try and pick winners and losers in the marketplace.
The idea, once called “Aerotropolis,” is now named “VantagePort” and has seven communities paying $25,000 each annually for marketing the areas around Detroit Metro and Willow Run airports for business development. Wayne and Washtenaw counties pay $50,000 each.Research Associate Jarrett Skorup told The Detroit News that if the idea is worthy, it should be backed by private investment.
