Under the conventional public school system, where a student lived dictated to which public school he or she was assigned. Some studies have found that this has helped drive up home prices in perceived high-quality school districts, and depress home prices in lower quality districts.
Senior Economist David Littmann told MLive that more than $84 million could be lost to the metro Detroit economy if the current NHL labor strife continues for the entire season. Littmann based his calculations on the number of home games played, ticket prices and additional spending on things like food, parking and souveniers.
State Sen. John Moolenaar, R-Midland, has introduced a bill declaring that Iosco County — and no other Michigan county — shall henceforth be the official “birding capital” of Michigan.
The bill comes as something of a relief, because if legislators have time for such fluff then all of Michigan’s other problems and challenges must have been successfully met and solved.
Michael Van Beek, director of education policy, was a guest on “The Tony Conley Show” this morning on WILS AM1320 in Lansing, discussing his recent blog post on teacher evaluations.
The house sitting on 5076 Montauk Drive in Alpine Township (pictured at right) doesn't look like a blighted property. The house is not crumbling, nor does it appear to be in an area where vacancy is a concern.
However, when the Kent County Land Bank Authority acquired 5076 Montauk this summer, the property automatically became "blighted." Any property acquired by any Michigan land bank is considered blighted by law, regardless of the property's condition or location.
He's a Republican state lawmaker from Kent County, and someone MIRS News has just reported may seek to replace current Speaker of the House Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, in that position next year.
OK, but who is he in terms of his voting record?
A new tool recently added to MichiganVotes.org offers a potentially very revealing answer for Rep. Yonker or any lawmaker by identifying votes in which he or she bucked the majority of his own House or Senate party caucus. Rep. Yonker did so 30 times since taking office in 2011; MichiganVotes’ concise, objective, plain-English description of each is shown here.
New legislation introduced last week in the Michigan House would ban for three years any new charter public schools from opening in the vicinity of two conventional public school districts that have consolidated. Two districts considering consolidation are located in the district represented by bill sponsor Rep. David Rutledge, D-Ypsilanti, who told AnnArbor.com his bill would “protect a newly merged school district from companies attempting to capitalize on the tenuous transition of consolidating.” Five other lawmakers from both parties have cosponsored the bill.
Two new studies show just how much work needs to be done to improve economic performance in Michigan and across the country.
An analysis from Northwood University commissioned by the Michigan Chamber of Commerce looked at the state's economic competitiveness. While the state has improved in the past few years, particularly in state debt and taxation, Michigan has had a steady, decade-long decline in other economic areas compared to the rest of the country.
Former state Rep. Bill Huizenga, now a U.S. Congressman, is viewed by some as the "godfather" of a state government economic development program known as the “21st Century Jobs Fund.”
Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm conceived the 2005 program, which among other things has seen the state buying ownership interest in private businesses, breaking a 154-year practice of steering clear of state equity investments that are not pension-related.
Jarrett Skorup, content manager for Michigan Capitol Confidential, was a guest Sunday morning on “The Daily Drift” with host Gary Wellings on WAAM AM1600 in Ann Arbor, discussing Michigan’s ballot proposals.
A new report from The Education Trust-Midwest finds that 99.6 percent of teachers from 10 of Michigan’s largest school districts were rated “effective.” Coincidentally, 98 percent of the principals responsible for these evaluations received the same rating.
Y = Yes, N = No, X = Not Voting
Senate Bill 1259, Increase licensure fees: Passed 33 to 5 in the Senate
To increase fees imposed on a wide range of businesses and occupations in which registration or licensure mandates are imposed as a condition of operating the firm or earning a living in the profession. This is one of a number of such bills passed by the House and Senate this week, which technically repeal the sunsets of previously enacted “temporary” fee increase laws, and are related to the budget for the next fiscal year. According to the House and Senate Fiscal Agencies, the bills would extract $15 to $20 million annually from business owners and tradesmen.
Patrick J. Wright, director of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, was an in-studio guest on “The Frank Beckman Show” on WJR AM760 this morning, discussing the forced unionization of home-based caregivers by the SEIU.
Wright earlier today filed paperwork at the Michigan Employment Relations Commission asking the administrative panel to overturn its 2005 decision that forced tens of thousands of people into a union, most of whom care for disabled family members who receive a Medicaid stipend.
Labor Policy Director F. Vincent Vernuccio is cited in Investor’s Business Daily on the slate of ballot proposals Michigan voters will face Nov. 6.
Vernuccio said Proposal 2 in particular is “an absolutely unprecedented power grab by government unions.”
Michael LaFaive, director of the Center’s Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, was a guest on “The Tony Conley Show” on WILS AM1320 in Lansing today discussing Proposal 5. If Prop 5 passes, the Michigan Legislature would not be able to increase taxes without a two-thirds majority in both chambers. For more information on this and the other ballot measures, see here.
What’s in a name? Plenty if you’re Proposal 2.
The unions behind the proposal to change the state constitution officially changed the initiative's title from "Protect Our Jobs" to "Protect Working Families."
To try and pass the ballot initiative, those behind it must sell it to the public as something beneficial. Perhaps the union-backed “Protect Our Jobs” did not have the same ring as “Protect Working Families.”
Fresh off the heels of the disingenuous television ad from the unions telling people what Proposal 2 won’t do instead of what it will do comes a doozy from the unions supporting an initiative to add a home-based caregiver unionization scheme into the state constitution.
Labor Policy Director F. Vincent Vernuccio was a guest Monday on “The Big Show” with host Michael Patrick Shiels discussing Proposal 2 that will be on the Nov. 6 ballot. You can read more of Vernuccio’s analysis of the proposal here, here and here.
The executive director of a group pushing Proposal 4, the forced unionization of home-based caregivers, appears to be unsure of exactly what he supports.
In the Detroit Free Press, Norm Delisle of the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition said the public supports changing the constitution for "measures such as training and background checks for home health care workers."
MLive columnist Rick Haglund writes that the 2/3 tax limitation and international bridge ballot proposals are not a grassroots effort.
Proposal 5 is another maneuver by billionaire Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel “Matty” Moroun to try to stop construction of the proposed New International Trade Crossing bridge linking Detroit and Windsor.
Proposal 2, the “Protect Our Jobs” constitutional amendment, would fundamentally change the power structure in Michigan. The amendment would allow government unions to effectively veto laws passed by Michigan’s elected representatives.
Little to no attention, however, has been paid to the foreseen financial cost to taxpayers should Prop 2 pass.
The Michigan Department of Education’s focus on achievement gaps can give a flawed picture of schools’ performance, according to an Op-Ed in today’s Detroit Free Press by Education Policy Analyst Audrey Spalding. She has also written about the issue here and here.
The Washington Post editorialized recently that President Barack Obama set a goal of 1 million electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road by 2015. Just last year, the Obama administration’s Department of Energy produced a report that said, “The goal is achievable.”
Last year 45 students left Grosse Pointe Public Schools for other Michigan school districts. And because these students left under Michigan's Schools of Choice program, each student took their state funding with them — out of Grosse Pointe and to other school districts.
Y = Yes, N = No, X = Not Voting
Senate Bill 1214, Authorize Attorney General challenge of parole board decisions: Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate
To authorize the state Attorney General (in addition to the crime victim and prosecutor) to challenge a state parole board decision, with an “abuse of discretion” standard for such challenges.
