If Michigan lawmakers want to increase competition and reduce costs for taxpayers, they should remove the arbitrary and archaic prevailing wage.
Michigan’s prevailing wage law — which mandates a wage for laborers working on certain government projects — is one of the most stringent in the nation. The standard sets absurd price levels for government work, leaving taxpayers on the hook for higher bills. The prevailing wage costs taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars annually and benefits large companies, which are in a better position to absorb the higher costs that smaller companies cannot afford.
By Jack McHugh
Senate Bill 123, Establish minimum clearance when passing bicycles: Passed 36 to 1 in the Senate
To require drivers who are passing a bicyclist to their right that is going the same direction to stay at least three feet to the left. Also, to explicitly allow passing a bicycle in a no passing zone if there is enough room to make it safe to do so. Senate Bill 170 establishes the same rules for drivers passing a bicycle to the left of the vehicle.
Author Tom Wolfe died last week. He was a famous journalist and author of popular books, including “Bonfire of the Vanities,” which involved a high-flying, risk-taking Wall Street trader who was said to be “hemorrhaging money.” Michigan has its own class of risk-taking traders, but they are of a state-paid variety, operating programs that either mandate unusually risky investments with taxpayer money or undertake them outright.
By Ben DeGrow
Detroit charter schools rightly merit attention for helping students improve on math and reading tests. But they deliver other benefits that take longer to emerge. A new analysis says that a Detroit student who attends a charter high school is more likely to pursue higher education.
By Jack McHugh
Senate Bill 826, Impose licensure on naturopathic physicians: Passed 24 to 11 in the Senate
To impose licensure and regulation on naturopathic physicians, with license fees, education requirements and more. The bill defines naturopathic medicine as “a system of practice that is based on the natural healing capacity of individuals.”
Michigan businesses need affordable, reliable electricity to operate. But in our noncompetitive electricity system, almost all are forced to accept monopoly utility services. This system, sprinkled with a small amount of choice, means only a small number of companies are able to get lower-cost energy through an alternative supplier. The only other option for reducing costs is to try to get a special deal from one of the two large providers, Consumers or DTE.
By Kahryn Riley
Last fall, some Michigan sheriffs began calling for a new tax on nonmotorized watercraft like kayaks, canoes and paddleboards. They say that requiring Michiganders to register these boats will generate needed revenue. Although both the House and Senate have passed resolutions opposing the “kayak tax,” some proponents of the tax haven’t given up on getting it passed.
Michigan voters can now see where their lawmakers have stood on state business subsidies from 2001 and into the current legislative session. A new scorecard from the Mackinac Center and MichiganVotes.org shows where every lawmaker came down on votes for corporate handouts that pit regular taxpayers against select business interests and developers.
Nearly one year ago, the Michigan House of Representatives passed House Bill 4205 by a 57-50 vote. The bill was designed to limit state agencies’ power to intrude on the lawmaking duties of the Legislature, but, it has stalled and is gathering dust in the Senate. Although Gov. Rick Snyder has vetoed similar legislation in the past, State Rep. Jim Runestad, a Republican from White Lake Township and co-sponsor of the bill, reports that Snyder has said he will sign the bill.
By Jack McHugh
House Bill 4158, Require conviction for property forfeiture to police: Passed 83 to 26 in the House
To establish that property seized from a person because it may be associated with a suspected drug crime is not subject to permanent forfeiture (loss of ownership) unless an individual is actually convicted. However, the conviction requirement would only apply to forfeitures of less than $50,000 (meaning police and prosecutors could still take and keep assets worth more than that using a lower burden of proof).
When it comes to creating jobs, lawmakers find themselves in a dilemma. They can improve the business climate for everyone, which encourages growth but makes it hard to claim credit for creating jobs. Or they can give tax money to select firms, which lets them take credit for a new business groundbreaking, regardless of whether the costs of the subsidies are worth it.
By Jason Hayes
It’s no surprise that taking a stance on a contentious issue will bring on cutting critiques. Emails pointing out a perceived error on a public stance are to be expected. Some contention may also arise when readers see a Mackinac Center blog post that sides with the Michigan Public Service Commission. It’s unusual, but it does happen because the Mackinac Center strives to be pro-free markets as opposed to pro-business. So, when a business veers from free markets into seeking special favors and protections, we will find ourselves on the opposite side — even if it means agreeing with a government agency.
By Jack McHugh
Senate Bill 863, K-12 School Aid budget: Passed 27 to 9 in the Senate
The Senate version of the K-12 school aid budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct 1, 2018. This bill would appropriate a total of $14.732 billion, compared to $14.580 billion approved last year. Of this, $1.724 billion is federal money. The House budget version proposes spending $14.823 billion. School districts with lower revenue would get a $230 increase in per-pupil aid, and higher spending ones would get an extra $115.
The growth of the administrative state grows apace, prompting countermeasures that protect the citizenry from arbitrary enforcement of rules and regulations promulgated by unelected government officials.
This may sound like a 2010 Tea Party pamphlet, but it's actually a sentiment I heard many times between 2006 and 2010. During those years, I traversed the state with my old boss Russ Harding, then the director of a Mackinac Center property rights initiative, meeting with groups and concerned individuals on the issue of governmental overreach and abuse.
A city in Michigan is denying an alcohol license to a restaurant, apparently because government officials don’t like the style of service and type of food offered there.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Royal Oak city officials voted to deny an alcohol license to a Taco Bell Cantina “after police expressed opposition.”
It’s a good thing when people who are concerned about their ecological footprint spend their own money to install solar panels on their homes. It’s a bad thing when politicians attempt to exempt these decisions from normal tax policy.
The property tax is the largest tax in the state, raising $14 billion. Tax collections are distributed to the state and to local governments, schools and other taxing authorities. But there is a bill in the Michigan Legislature that would exempt small-scale solar panels on residential property from property taxes. Some advocates are calling for even more tax preferences for solar panels.
The Legislature is considering a bill to change the way local governments pay for storm sewers. Some local government officials want the bill so that they will avoid legal challenges to the way they assess sewer costs to property owners. The law’s drafters, on the other hand, seem less intent at avoiding litigation than they are at avoiding the popular votes required to approve new taxes.
By Ben DeGrow
A glimpse through recent headlines may make you wonder whether a rash of teacher walkouts will reach the Great Lakes State. If the walkouts were driven by poor student achievement, Michigan would have one of the strongest cases to join the fray. But other forces are at work, and for the most part, our state doesn't fit the profile.
By Jack McHugh
Senate Bill 601, Authorize school safety spending: Passed 35 to 0 in the Senate
To appropriate $18.6 million for various purposes related to school and student safety. This includes $15 million in school safety grants, $3 million for a school "panic button app" emergency notification system, and $650,000 for a student safety hotline.
In 2014 Michigan Capitol Confidential published an article titled “Solar Subsidy Part Two: Will the promises come to fruition this time?” The story involved a company that was awarded a grant of up to $2.5 million through the Michigan Business Development Program, and the answer turned out to be a resounding “no.” But this wasn’t the only case of an exercise in corporate welfare that failed; research shows that this program likely destroys, rather than creates, net new jobs. It should be closed before it does any more damage.
By Jason Hayes
An April 18, 2018 ruling by the Michigan Public Service Commission – the state government body that oversees Michigan’s electricity and telecommunications services – is adding to tensions in the debate over rates for net metering. Deciding how much money people with solar panels on their home or business will receive for the electricity they generate and sell to a utility — a practice known as “net metering” — touches on several lightning rod issues. Among those issues are electricity rates, competition in electricity markets, subsidies for renewable energy and the notion that renewable energy could make a difference in climate change in some substantive way. Add to all that the reality that, whatever it rules, the MPSC has the authority to substantially affect the trajectory of residential solar industry in Michigan – growth, flatline or contraction.
By Jack McHugh
Senate Bill 897, Require able-bodied Medicaid recipients to work: Passed 26 to 11 in the Senate
To require state welfare officials to seek permission from federal welfare officials for requiring able-bodied recipients of Medicaid health coverage to work at least 29 hours a week, or be in school, job-training or volunteer work. The bill authorizes exceptions for a parent with children under age six, individuals getting disability benefits, a disabled person's caretaker, and more, including temporary emergencies and "life-changing events." It would also require beneficiaries to verify compliance each month and verify family income changes within 10 days.
The state of Utah became the first in the nation to pass a “free-range kids” law. Looking to push back against norms and policies that are overprotective of children to the extreme, the state passed a law that explicitly permits parents to let their kids play at the park, walk to school and participate in other unsupervised activities.
It’s competition that makes products better and less expensive, creating value in the meantime. And a recent judicial ruling has held that Michigan liquor stores aren’t exempt from it.
For 40 years, the state’s Liquor Control Commission has imposed a “half-mile rule” that required liquor stores to be at least that far from each other. Last year, the commission evaluated the rule and found it did nothing to promote health and safety and was simply there to limit competition. Members of the commission voted to get rid of it.
Occupational licenses are pitched as a necessity to protect the health and safety of citizens. But they rarely perform their function, and the state has no requirement that policymakers evaluate new and existing licenses. That’s why education, testing and fee mandates for different professions are so arbitrary.
