It’s no secret that lawmaking is a complex process. And yet, no matter the topic policymakers consider, the government should always set out with the same intention: to serve the public and protect their rights. Michigan carries some laws on its books, however, that criminalize behavior that in no way threaten our rights or safety. Two of the many rules created by the Michigan Department of Agriculture, for example, call for criminal punishments. Described below are two rules created by the Michigan Department of Agriculture that carry criminal punishments for acts that don’t merit such a penalty.
Lawmakers do not need to find $1.9 billion or even $1.0 billion for the roads in a single year. Road repairs are long-term projects, and the state needs to gradually spend more to ensure that roads are put back together faster than they fall apart.
Road funding is already at historic highs when adjusted for inflation, and road quality has improved in the past with lower levels of road funding. Lawmakers have also found several ways to find more road funding in the budget by using the revenues from the growth of current taxes.
By Jason Hayes
The Mackinac Center joined a coalition of 30 free market organizations urging President Trump to press on with his administration’s efforts to reform Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards.
The Mackinac Center has been active in this policy area, consistently advocating for reform. In a May 2018 piece in The Hill, I argued:
By Ben DeGrow
Editor's Note: This article first appeared in The Hill on June 20, 2019.
The Supreme Court of the United States is expected to decide whether to hear Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, a case that reveals the harm a state constitutional amendment marked by religious bias can do to families.
If a typical resident approached his or her legislators to get taxpayers to pay for, say, a new recliner, that person might find a sympathetic ear. Legislators want to please their constituents. But it’s doubtful that a lawmaker would introduce the Comfort Michigan subsidy program for select recliner purchases.
By Jack McHugh
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in The Hill on June 14, 2019.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently stated that she would “love to sign a bill that repeals right-to-work.” Michigan has been a right-to-work state since 2012, when then-Gov. Rick Snyder signed the Freedom to Work legislation into law. In all, 27 states are right-to-work, giving workers the freedom to choose whether to join and pay a union — or not.
Editor's Note: This article first appeared in The Detroit News on June 23, 2019.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer believes that children today worry about water quality while kids in the 1970s didn’t have to. But kids back then were aware of key policy issues, like water quality, and since that time water quality has significantly improved.
By Jack McHugh
Lawmakers negotiate over their priorities in the annual budget process. This involves trade-offs: A dollar for schools is a dollar that doesn’t go to the roads or to prisons or to any other use. Lawmakers try to find the right balance for the best allocation of the state’s limited revenues.
About the time Michigan and some of the surrounding Midwestern states were adopting right-to-work laws, several unions decided to try a new challenge to these laws. Right-to-work laws allow employees to choose whether to pay a union or not. When states do not have right-to-work laws, employees can be fired if they do not pay money to a union.
By Derk Wilcox
The right to own and use property has been one of the cornerstones of a successful and prosperous economy. Despite this, the courts have often been negligent to downright hostile to property owners who seek to enforce their rights against government intrusion. For that reason, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Knick v. Township of Scott, 588 US ___ (2019) may turn out to be a watershed moment. The issue in Knick is how the courts treat a “taking” of private property for public benefit. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution says: “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” There are two parts to that. First, it’s clear that a government can take property for public use. This power is called eminent domain. It is widely accepted by courts and elected officials, and it makes it easier for governments to build roads, military bases and other facilities. But, second, the government must pay fair compensation for what it takes.
Michigan residents are not likely to be happy with whatever lawmakers decide to do on the roads. It’s tough to please voters on the issue.
There is a lot of pressure to hike taxes. The pressure comes not just from the governor, who wants to use her $2.5 billion tax hike to spend $1.9 billion on the roads and $600 million on other priorities, but from every other spending interest in the state. Schools, universities, local governments, business subsidy interests and other direct recipients of taxpayer funding rarely argue about the ineffectiveness of others’ spending, and they cheer for each other’s tax hikes.
By Ben DeGrow
Most Michigan school district and union officials would have you believe that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s K-12 budget proposal represents a dramatic break from recent history. She calls for a sizeable increase in spending, one that is similar to what the state has been adding in recent years. It is also less of an increase than what lawmakers added two years ago.
By Jack McHugh
Democrats in Congress recently unveiled legislation that is a union wish list: it limits the freedoms of workers and gives more power to labor unions, who are often some of the biggest supporters of Democratic candidates. It’s called the Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019, or PRO Act.
By Ben DeGrow
Families who have faced obstacles in their efforts to give their children with special-needs the best shot at academic and life success can take heart from a pair of recent court rulings that should affect education in this state.
In 2018 the U.S. Department of Education handed Michigan the lowest rating among the 50 states for the way it delivered special education services. The rating, which is determined heavily by measurable outcomes for students, came about the same time federal courts were raising the expectations for what schools must do under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
It is possible to spend more money on the roads without raising taxes in Michigan. That’s not just a Mackinac Center recommendation: Both chambers of the Michigan Legislature passed budgets that found more transportation money without raising tax rates. And both do so, in part, by decreasing support for corporate welfare.
By Jack McHugh
By Ben DeGrow
A recent Detroit Free Press headline reported on the rapid decline of private education in Michigan: "200 private schools have closed in Michigan in the last decade." This isn’t wrong, but it ignores the emergence of new schools that need to be considered to get a full picture of the state of private schooling in Michigan.
It’s hard to underestimate how much motor vehicle manufacturing formed Michigan’s economy and how ingrained it is in the state culture. But its economic importance has diminished, and it’s easy to not appreciate the extent to which the state has diversified.
By Jack McHugh
State taxpayers are putting more money into the roads than ever before. In inflation-adjusted terms, the $3.6 billion being spent this year is the most in history, or at least since 1940 — as far back as state records allow for making comparisons.
In conducting this research, we wanted to look at just the resources that the state government uses for the roads. So we excluded money from federal, local and private funds, where possible. The state transfers some of its funds to local governments to spend on local roads, and those figures are counted here. But the resources that local governments generate to spend on their own roads from property tax millages are not included.
In today’s political climate, polarization is becoming the norm, and divisive debates have caused many people to forget the underlying issues. In this divided world, the nonprofit grassroots organization known as Policy Circle offers a way for women to discuss crucial topics without the influence of party politics.
The best way to measure the usefulness of energy sources is not by the number of jobs they create, but by the benefits they provide. Getting the biggest gain for the least resources should always be the goal, meaning we should measure energy by its output, not the size of its payroll. Current green energy literature shows us why.
