In his column for the Detroit Free Press, editor Stephen Henderson expresses frustration from the Michigan film incentive’s lack of success in attracting a permanent presence in the state. He writes:
The credits also need a clear end point. The idea behind the subsidy was to encourage infrastructure to take root here for the industry, so that it could thrive even past the credit’s existence. But how long should we be expected to wait for that to happen?
The Macomb Daily reported last week that the Warren Consolidated School District cut a cumulative $440 million from its budget over the past decade. Here is the relevant passage from the news story:
"[The spokesperson] said the belief by some in the community that schools have done nothing to fight budget deficits is wrong, and that the district has cut $440 million from its budget during the last 10 years. The district is operating on a $169 million budget, and has used $4.5 million from its savings fund to make ends meet, he said."
Jarrett Skorup, research associate for online engagement, writes in an Op-Ed in today’s Grand Rapids Press that building a new light rail system in Detroit would be repeating the mistakes of the People Mover.
The Legislature is set to consider a bill that would repeal Public Act 312 of 1969, which creates a binding arbitration process for labor disputes involving police officers and firefighters. On its surface, binding arbitration seems to be an attractive way to bring unions and employers together and create a contract when the two sides cannot agree on terms, but in practice binding arbitration has failed to resolve labor disputes quickly and fairly.
Every week, MichiganVotes.org sends a report on interesting votes and bills in the Michigan Legislature, and includes how each legislator voted. To find out who your state senator is and how to contact him or her go here; for state representatives go here.
(Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt of a commentary titled “Free Public Radio Is Anything But,” which appeared Feb. 23, 2011, at National Review Online.)
Despite claims that public radio only costs U.S. citizens $1.35 a year, the real-world costs are far higher. I interviewed several public radio station employees recently, and discovered state taxpayers cover far more of the costs it takes to bring “A Prairie Home Companion” and “Car Talk” to listeners.
Paul Kersey, director of labor policy, was invited to testify before the state House Oversight, Reform and Ethics Committee regarding Michigan’s prevailing wage law, according to both MIRS Capitol Capsule and Gongwer News Service.
Prevailing wage dictates that union-scale wages be paid on construction projects involving taxpayer money, regardless of who gets the bid.
It has been difficult to figure out who benefits from carbon trading exchanges designed to cap CO2 emissions in the name of fighting global warming. Most busineses and virtually all consumers will be penalized by higher energy costs, which will result in less economic activity and a further loss of United States jobs. Nor is the evironment a beneficiary of carbon cap-and-trade systems. Even many supporters of carbon trading admit that the environmental benefit of a cap-and-trade system in the United States is almost too small to measure — somewhere in the neighborhood of a projected drop in temperature of a few hundredths of a degree during the rest of this century.
The case involving the forced unionization of some 40,000 home-based day care owners and operators still awaits a decision by the Michigan Supreme Court, according to WWTV-WWUP TV9&10.
The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Human Services in September 2009 on behalf of three day care owners who are forced to pay union dues out of subsidy checks they receive from the state on behalf of low-income families.
Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin and now Indiana are refusing to show up and vote on union-related legislation because they are afraid the bills will pass. Their absence prevents their respective legislative bodies from having a quorum and thus being able to conduct business. In various ways they have said their purpose is to protect collective bargaining “rights,” which are actually legal privileges, for public-sector workers.
Benefits for government workers at all levels in Michigan cost every state resident about $580, Jack McHugh, senior legislative analyst, told WILX-TV10 in Lansing.
“Michigan public employees collect fringe benefits that extend what they would be in the private sector by $5.7 billion per year,” McHugh said. “I think if you asked most Michigan residents are you willing to write a check in order to give public employees $580 more than what you get, most would say I don’t think so.”
A new study that claims Michigan receives an economic benefit from its film subsidy program has come under fire, according to statewide media reports.
Michael LaFaive, director of the Center’s Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, told WEYI-TV25 in Saginaw that no study so far on the subsidy program shows a positive economic benefit.
With public employee unions throwing tantrums in Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan over proposed budget cuts, it’s worth remembering that no matter how out of whack they get, government employee compensation levels will never be enough for these unions. This attitude is in the DNA of public-sector unions, and it defines their reason for existing.
The public school establishment is united in decrying as “devastating” Gov. Rick Synder’s call to trim less than 5 percent from school spending, or $300 per pupil from this year’s level. Some pose as being “offended,” and others nod at hysterical claims that “this has the potential to destroy K-12 public education.” While the Chicken Littles will get their headlines and may even frighten a few of their more credulous neighbors, the reality is that schools don’t have to cut a single program or employee if they don’t want to.
Madison, home of the University of Wisconsin and site of the Wisconsin state Legislature, is one of the few cities that can match up with Ann Arbor and Berkeley, Calif., for leftish trendiness. It is often referred to, by both admirers and critics, as “Mad-town.” Seldom has a city’s nickname been quite so appropriate.
Legislation to prohibit the use of union-only Project Labor Agreements on public construction or renovation work has been introduced in both the state House and Senate. This is a hopeful sign.
These PLAs tend to be used to force bidders to sign agreements with local unions before starting work, and they have the effect of discouraging non-union contractors from bidding, limiting competition and boosting the cost for taxpayers. Just yesterday bids on renovation work at Kalamazoo Community College — a project with a PLA attached — came in 4 percent over budget. Costs for repairs to the roof of one building nearly doubled.
Gov. Rick Snyder’s first budget fell short of the “atomic bomb” promised by Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, in part due to the fact that a megaton of further spending and tax cuts were left on the table. Overall, the budget moves the state in a positive direction with greater tax simplicity, more transparency, less corporate welfare and fewer discriminatory tax policies.
In his executive budget, Gov. Rick Snyder recommends reforms to the compensation offered to employees by Michigan’s state and local governments. Considering that employment costs are a primary reason why government continues to grow, this is a commendable move.
Every week, MichiganVotes.org sends a report on interesting votes and bills in the Michigan Legislature, and includes how each legislator voted. To find out who your state senator is and how to contact him or her go here; for state representatives go here.
The Washington Examiner is reporting on a story Michigan Capitol Confidential first broke involving a carpenters union that hires non-union people to picket a company for hiring non-union people.
The tactic, called “bannering,” is explained more fully here. As Capitol Confidential reported, those hired by the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters to protest Ritsema Associates often come from a homeless shelter that Ritsema has supported for several years.
Michael LaFaive, director of the Center’s Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, told The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) that he expects “a great deal of rancorous debate” over Gov. Snyder’s first budget, which is scheduled to be released today.
For your edification, a couple of items from the police blotter, courtesy of the Department of Labor:
On January 27, 2011, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Andrew Blackmon, former President of Steelworkers Local 842 (located in Detroit, Mich.), was sentenced to two years of probation and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,055.78 and a $25 special assessment. Blackmon previously made restitution in the amount of $510. On July 20, 2010, Blackmon pled guilty to one count of falsifying union records. The sentencing follows an investigation by the OLMS Detroit District Office.
Fox News reports "Federal Government Charges Up Electric Car Market" and spoke to Mackinac Center senior economist David Littmann for the story. The article quotes Littmann saying "I have never seen an industry that receives subsidies for any period of time like this that didn't fail and then cost taxpayers even more."
The New York Times in an editorial Saturday cited Michigan Capitol Confidential regarding Michigan Congressman Justin Amash, R-3rd District, and his vote against certain provisions of the Patriot Act due to concerns about civil liberties.
Scholars Andrew G. Biggs and Jason Richwine recently authored a discussion for the American Enterprise Institute of the various ways of examining whether government employees get richer compensation than peers in the private sector. Published in the Weekly Standard, the title provides their conclusion: “Yes, They’re Overpaid.”
