Michigan Business Review reports on a recent Michigan Capitol Confidential story about members of Michigan's Congressional delegation who voted for an increase in the federal minimum wage law but offer unpaid internships in their offices.
"The publication asks the question that if congressional members believed that it's exploitative to hire employees for less than a minimum wage, isn't it worse to hire them for no pay at all? They make a good point," Michigan Business Review says about Capitol Confidential's coverage.
Columnist Tim Carney observes in the Washington Examiner that whether or not they trim ethanol subsidies will provide an early test for how serious Republicans in Washington are about reducing the cost, size and intrusiveness of government. The same applies here in Michigan.
Due to a data-entry error, Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville, was incorrectly listed on MichiganVotes.org as the sponsor of House Bill 5593, now Public Act 216 of 2009, which increased the state licensure fees imposed on nurses. A Michigan Capitol Confidential story citing MichiganVotes.org inadvertently repeated the error.
A story Friday in Michigan Capitol Confidential about a CATA bus driver who made $140,000 last year provided the impetus for a front-page story Saturday in the Lansing State Journal.
"The wage information was originally reported by Capitol Confidential, a publication of the Midland-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy," the Journal reported. "The free-market think tank obtained CATA records through a Freedom of Information Act request."
Every week, MichiganVotes.org sends a report to newspapers and TV stations showing how just the state legislators in each publication's service area voted on the most important and interesting bills and amendments of the past seven days. The version shown here instead contains a link to the complete roll call tally in either the House or Senate. To find out who your state senator is and how to contact him or her go here; for state representatives go here.
There are renewed calls and more pressure in metro Detroit to build a light-rail from the Oakland County suburbs to downtown Detroit, according to The Detroit News.
Mackinac Center analysts have explored the problems associated with such public transportation on numerous occasions, including here and here.
Michigan's economy can recover if government places fewer burdens on business, Mackinac Center President Joseph G. Lehman told Fortune Magazine today.
"We used to be a wealthy state," Lehman said. "Now we're a poor one."
Fortune pointed to this research by James Hohman, fiscal policy analyst, which shows public-sector benefits in Michigan outpace those in the private sector by $5.7 billion annually.
Obamacare restricts how states can save money on Medicaid until they take on larger burdens they can't afford in 2014. Meanwhile, Michigan has a $1.5 billion spending overhang going into the 2011-2012 budget year due to the use of one-time "gimmicks" and remaining federal "stimulus" dollars to prop-up the current budget.
The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) forbids tighter eligibility standards except to "nonpregnant, nondisabled adults" with incomes over 133 percent of poverty, which applies to exactly zero people on Michigan Medicaid.
With no option to reduce eligibility, the way Medicaid currently works, states must either eliminate optional services or reduce payments to doctors. The former likely won't save enough, unless the state also eliminates prescription drug coverage. The latter may also be limited by federal requirements on maintaining access. Doctors are already dropping out of Medicare and Medicaid because of low payments from the government insurers. Further reductions in Medicaid reimbursement will only worsen the problem.
That is why I have advocated seeking a waiver to transform Medicaid into a premium support program to aid in the purchase of private insurance and fund personal accounts. As Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson wrote, "[P]rivate insurance generally is better than Medicaid." If the state can reduce cost and provide better health care coverage to the poor, the premium support and personal account plan should be a no-brainer and get federal approval for a waiver.
There's no question that Michigan's economy has performed poorly over the past decade. Essentially, the state lost one out of every five jobs since employment peaked in 2000. However, Michigan's economic trends have changed in recent months. It is no longer the worst performer in the country. In fact, since the end of the U.S. recession, Michigan's performance is average.
As General Motors finalizes plans to begin selling stock again, questions surround the government takeover of the automaker that could affect the share price, according to David Littmann, senior economist.
"Is this the last time (the government saves an automaker) or is it just a precedent that encourages moral hazard?" Littmann asked when interviewed by the Detroit Free Press.
The Michigan Public Service Commission has just issued a report on "net metering" in the state during the last six months of 2009. The press release that accompanied the report chirped that the number of net metering electricity customers increased by 85 percent during that period, from 135 to 254. With a few exceptions, most of these small generators make electricity with wind turbines and solar collectors.
Voters going to the polls today have been bombarded for months with promises made by candidates seeking their support. Voters for too long have been disappointed by politicians who say one thing while running of office, only to do quite another after being elected. I believe there are two primary reasons for this phenomenon.
Mackinac Center President Joseph G. Lehman was on WEYI-TV25 in Saginaw discussing the two ballot proposals Michigan voters will address today.
"You don't need a new constitution," Lehman said regarding Proposal 1. "The legislators and the governor have all the authority they need to bring spending in line with what they can afford."
Michigan Capitol Confidential reports that the Lansing School District used taxpayer-funded resources to send out a flier that clearly encourages voters to approve a tax increase to pay for more spending by the district.
Experts quoted in the story explain that while probably improper, the flyer urging voters to "Fund Our Future" was not (quite) illegal. A school district spokesman told MichCapCon.com that the phrase is "just a slogan."
The average teacher salary in Huron Valley Schools was $62,439 in 2009, and teachers contribute nothing to the cost of their health insurance premiums. The district pays about 51 percent more than the average employer in the state for employee health insurance. Huron Valley also pays teachers who opt-out of health coverage $3,281 annually. The local union president is fully released from all teaching duties (without loss of pay or benefits) to conduct union business. These are among the highlights in the current collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the district and the local arm of the Michigan Education Association union.
A front page article in last Friday's Detroit Free Press touts the opportunity for the Hungarian Mangalitsa pig to add to life to the Michigan hog industry. The Mangalitsa pig is known for its thick lard and tasty flavor and can be found on the menu in trendy restaurants in San Francisco, New York and Chicago. Traverse City businessman Marc Santucci is bringing the tasty pig to Michigan, but his biggest barrier in the long run may not be market acceptance for the new product but rather Michigan's unfriendly regulatory system.
Two Op-Eds by Mike Van Beek, director of education policy, on school employee concessions and how sales tax and lottery money fund public education, appeared in The Oakland Press Friday. Van Beek has written extensively about several commonly held myths surrounding public school funding.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal on Oct. 27, the respected North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) has determined that proposed new federal power plant rules will force the closure of electric generating plants representing 7 percent of America's capacity. These are not the highly controversial carbon dioxide regulate-and-cap rules, but additional ones. They will force electricity consumers to finance the replacement of perfectly good coal plants with more expensive natural gas ones.
Funding will continue in fiscal 2011 for the Michigan Department of Human Services to operate the Michigan Home Based Child Care Council, according to the Livingston Daily Press & Argus.
The MHBCCC is the shell corporation created by the state of Michigan and Mott Community College as part of the forced unionization of 40,000 home-based child care owners and operators. The Livingston Daily reported that a proposal to strip the funding was removed during state budget negotiations, and that the agency will have to provide quarterly updates of how it spends the funding.
The average teacher salary in Harbor Beach Community Schools was $58,229 in 2009, second highest in Huron County. Teachers contribute nothing to the cost of their health insurance premiums, which cost the district $19,761 per teacher for a family plan. These are among the highlights in the current collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the district and the local arm of the Michigan Education Association union.
(Editor's Note: This is an updated version of a blog originally posted Oct. 28, 2010, that reflects the most recent decision in this case by the Michigan Court of Appeals.)
For more than a year, the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation (MCLF) has been battling the forced unionization of Michigan's home-based day care owners and providers in the state Court of Appeals. Four times, the appeals court rejected the Foundation's case with the legal equivalent of a wave of the hand.
In his recent article for National Review Online, columnist Michael Barone highlights the influence that government employee unions have over elections. In particular, he spotlights AFSCME and the $87.5 million it plans to contribute to candidates. He then follows the money trail back just a little bit to reveal the real source of government union money and power:
There are a number of popular theories why the American economy is stuck in the doldrums and one in 10 Americans cannot find a job: consumers are not spending enough, the government is not spending enough, the government is spending too much, jobs have gone to China, etc, etc. Arguably, the single biggest drag on economic recovery — overregulation — is not discussed much.
The average teacher salary in Cadillac Public Schools was $55,617 in 2009, and teachers contribute nothing to the cost of their health insurance. The district pays $220 to employees for simply not enrolling in the school health insurance plan. These are among the highlights in the current collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the district and the local arm of the Michigan Education Association union.
Both of Michigan's 2010 gubernatorial candidates favor spending more on higher education. Republican Rick Snyder says we need to "reverse recent trends of under-investing in colleges, universities and community colleges," and Democrat Virg Bernero claims, "Access to higher education is a huge concern."
