In a lengthy article that covers most of the issues and angles pertaining to public school teacher compensation, the Michigan Education Association continued its perpetual campaign to obfuscate the facts about average teacher pay.
In response to the fact that the average Michigan teacher salary is 15 percent higher than the national average, the MEA said school employees have agreed to $1 billion in concessions over the last three years (a claim they've been repeating for almost a full year). This claim remains unproven, and in any event is irrelevant to a comparison of average teacher salaries. Even if there were a $1 billion worth of concessions, all of it could have come from non-teaching union members. The MEA uses this figure without differentiating teachers from non-teachers.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office and the Department of Human Services appear to be at odds over the classification of some 40,000 small-business owners who were forced into a union.
A spokeswoman for Granholm told the Washington Examiner that, "We do regard home-based childcare workers as public employees." DHS has previously insisted that the home-based day care owners are self-employed.
A recent USA Today story trumpets the alleged successes of taxpayer-subsidized state tourism programs, although it doesn't account for the cost of the programs and what could have been done with that money had it been left in the pockets of those who earned it.
Patrick J. Wright, director of the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation, was a guest on "The Frank Beckmann Show" on WJR 760AM this morning, discussing recent findings that point directly to Gov. Jennifer Granholm's role in the forced unionization of more than 40,000 small-business owners.
CNN is reporting that the U.S. Postal Service lost $3.5 billion in its most recent quarter. Are there alternatives? This Current Comment from August 2007 — the most popular item on the Mackinac Center's website that year — explores that issue.
The Legislature did not meet this week. Instead of votes, this report contains several newly introduced bills of interest.
Senate Bill 1441 (Allow Spartan Stores (but not competitors) to hold wine tastings)
Introduced by Sen. Mark Jansen (R) on July 28, 2010, to allow the Spartan Stores grocery chain (but not other grocery chains like Meijer, Kroger, etc.) to hold wine tastings in its stores.
The Mackinac Center has obtained a copy of a lawsuit today filed by the attorney for 11 contractors hired to perform work on a building now known as Hangar42. You can read the complaint by clicking here.
Hangar42 was supposed to be a functioning film studio run out of Walker, a suburb of Grand Rapids, thanks in-part to the state promise of an "assignable" tax credit worth $10 million. Gov. Jennifer Granholm bragged about this economic development deal in her State of the State address last February.
The Mackinac Center broke the story after a months-long investigation by Communications Specialist Kathy Hoekstra and myself that raised questions about the efficacy of the deal. In May we posted this essay and video with our findings. The research and reporting ultimately led to an Attorney General investigation and a criminal charge against the primary buyer of the studio, Joseph Peters.
The Mackinac Center has written extensively about the Michigan Film Office and the state's film subsidy program. For more information see "Special Effects: Flawed Report Provides Distorted Lens."
The average teacher salary in the St. Joseph Public Schools was $57,861 in 2009, and employees are not required to contribute anything to health insurance policies that cost the district some $11,400 annually. 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.
In a speech that careened from apologetic to apocalyptic before settling on anti-democratic, incoming UAW President Bob King addressed more of his ambitions for the union. Optimists who hope for a more business-savvy UAW will focus on the first half, in which he acknowledged some mistakes, in particular the “Jobs Banks” that kept laid-off autoworkers on company payrolls at nearly full salary, but realists will quickly recognize that the second half, in which King attempted to reclaim the union’s old economic and political clout, is what really matters.
How much background research does Michigan's corporate welfare bureaucracy actually perform on the potential recipients of its selective tax breaks and subsidies? Due to recent embarrassments the amount may be increasing, but until now the answer appears to be, "Not much at all."
The lead investor in a Grand Rapids-area film studio was in court Tuesday after being charged by the Michigan Attorney General's office with a felony relating to the deal.
As WZZM TV13 in Grand Rapids reports, the Mackinac Center "was the first to question the deal."
Most school districts are putting the finishing touches on next year's budget and anxiously awaiting word from Lansing about the exact dollar amount they'll get per pupil. While they're waiting, districts would be wise to give their teachers union contract a close look, since the bulk of school spending is absorbed by these employees.
The Michigan Attorney General's Office has filed a criminal charge against Joseph Peters, the primary investor in the Hangar42 film infrastructure tax credit/subsidy deal. The Mackinac Center in May was the first to raise questions about this deal after an investigation lasting several months. In June the Center was also first to call for a formal investigation. It must be noted that the filing of a criminal charge does not imply guilt.
While recently walking along the beach at the Traverse City State Park, I was appalled at how dirty the beach was. Among the litter and discarded cigarette buts it was difficult to find clean sand to sit on and enjoy the view of the bay. Perhaps part of the problem is there were no trash receptacles to be found anywhere in the area. What has happened to our state parks? The Lansing political class will claim it is a "lack of funding." In my observation, having worked in senior state park management positions in three different states - including a short stint as chief of Michigan State Parks - limited funds to manage state parks is a fact of life. Michigan doesn't need more funds for state parks, just better management of them.
(Editor's note: The following is an edited version of a letter to the editor first sent to The Grand Rapids Press by Mike LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative.)
The Grand Rapids Press on July 27 published an editorial defending state business tax incentives ("Michigan needs to keep offering business tax breaks to create jobs," July 27) that fails to recognize one vital argument: They don't work.
The main investor in a Grand Rapids movie studio that applied for state film subsidy money has been charged with attempted felony false pretenses over $20,000, according to The Grand Rapids Press.
Attention was first drawn to this issue after the Mackinac Center broke the story following a months-long investigation by Center analysts, including a call for the Michigan Attorney General to investigate the Hangar42 deal. Fiscal Policy Director Mike LaFaive and Communications Specialist Kathy Hoekstra raised several questions about the matter with an essay and investigative video posted May 20. At issue was the value of the proposed film studio, which those involved said was worth $40 million, even though it had been listed by a real estate agent for $10 million shortly before the deal was announced.
Paul W. Smith, who hosts a talk show from 5:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. weekdays on WJR 760AM, cited a commentary on school funding by Education Policy Director Mike Van Beek in his Detroit News column Saturday.
Van Beek wrote that despite spending some $20 billion in local, state and federal taxes on public education in Michigan each year, the myth that schools are "underfunded" persists. The piece is part of an ongoing series examining school funding myths. As Michigan Capitol Confidential reports, Michigan spent a record amount on public schools in 2008-2009, the last year for which complete data is available.
With Tea Party organizer Jason Gillman breaking the news and Michigan Capitol Confidential reporting on it, the faux-"Michigan Tea Party" political party appears to be a dirty trick created by Democratic Party operatives. It's worth noting who comprises the real Tea Party movement in this state.
Oklahoma's state affiliate of the National Education Association only has 23,451 members, but has nevertheless launched a revenue-grabbing initiative, SQ 744, that will be on the ballot in November. The NEA is giving the local $3 million to promote the measure. Mike Antonucci wrote about it in his Education Intelligence Agency newsletter:
Stories in Michigan Capitol Confidential were the subject of recent radio interviews.
Senior Correspondent Tom Gantert, who wrote about the city of Ann Arbor spending $850,000 on a sculpture while laying off firefighters, was interviewed on The Lucy Ann Lance Show on WLBY AM1290 in Ann Arbor. You can listen to the interview here.
Some economic development officials are complaining of “collateral damage” from candidates and others who publicly discuss reining in Michigan’s generous array of targeted business subsidies and incentives. Last Saturday the Grand Rapids Press covered a roundtable discussion among four of the planners in an article titled "Politicians talk of killing tax incentives is hurting Michigan, economic developers say."
An article in Saturday's Grand Rapids Press contains one of the most troubling quotes from an economic development official we have ever read. It comes from Ron Kitchens of Kalamazoo's Southwest Michigan First and it continues a "stop picking on us" theme first advanced by Michigan Economic Development Corp. officials in a May letter.
A recent Michigan Capitol Confidential story about driver license renewal for people with outstanding parking tickets was cited as the source of information for two different newspaper editorials.
The Macomb Daily and Midland Daily News, which took opposite stances on the issue, both indicated the Michigan Capitol Confidential story was the source for their respective editorial boards.
According to the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom published by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, there are 16 countries that do a better job of protecting private property rights than the United States.
A dismal international ranking of 17 in protecting private property rights should serve as a wake up call to Americans concerned about individual freedom and liberty. It is impossible for a people to remain free without respect for the rule of law and protection of private property rights.
