Blog

A member of the Ann Arbor school board member recently opposed a proposal to allow more students who don’t live in the district attend its schools under the state’s Schools of Choice law. Ann Arbor schools are highly rated, and the students who would be allowed to enroll tend to come from lesser-ranked districts.

Detroit Prep is a top-rated and economically and racially diverse charter school in the city. Its growth means it needs to move out from a church basement and into a new location. Nearby is a former Detroit Public Schools building, sitting empty for years.

Can criminal defendants be required to pay a portion of the costs of prosecuting them? That’s a question the Michigan Supreme Court may soon answer if it takes up the case of one defendant who says that imposing those costs on him amounts to levying an impermissible tax.

The 2018 federal budget includes a block of money that goes to groups that do things in the Great Lakes. The Trump administration wanted to lower that funding. But 185 groups banded together to oppose any spending reductions.

Politicians at all levels face pushback if they attempt to reduce spending. While those 185 groups could secure their funding by pointing politicians to areas where they could save money, they don’t. Government spending interests refuse to criticize other spending interests because doing so might expose them to a similar critique. You can only ask for more, never ask less for anyone else. It’s a rule of the Trough Truce.

Activists and businesses that profit from wind and other renewable energy sources often claim that these produce additional jobs, and that this is a benefit. For example, the president and CEO of Consumers Energy recently said in a newspaper op-ed, “Building and operating more wind farms and solar power plants will create jobs.”

Does Arkansas’ tourism campaign provide more return on investment than Pure Michigan? That’s one implication of a study that looked at the returns of the Arkansas campaign, Arkansas: The Natural State. It said that the campaign returns $144 for every dollar spent. A taxpayer-funded study of the Pure Michigan national marketing push, meanwhile, says that Michigan’s advertising campaign returns $119 in tourism spending for each dollar spent.

The Legislature is on spring break with no sessions scheduled until April 10. Rather than votes this report contains some noteworthy legislative proposals to amend the constitution. To become law these require a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate and approval by voters.

The new tariffs on imported steel imposed by the Trump administration have been roundly criticized by economists and major steel-consuming industries. The announcements last week that Nucor will build a new plant in Florida, and U.S. Steel will bring its Granite City, Illinois, plant back on line are good news for those 500 steelworkers, but may pale against the number of employees laid off by the industries that use this now more expensive steel. With these tariffs a done deal, the administration has significant leverage to move onto another item on the steel industry’s public policy wish list: the building of a second Poe Lock, part of the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie that connect Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes.

The evidence is clear that the academic achievement produced by Michigan public school students, on average, lags the nation. The publicity surrounding this fact heightens the temptation to start a hollow drumbeat of misguided and simplistic prescriptions.

In 2014, the Michigan Legislature overwhelmingly passed new laws that allow terminally ill patients to try medicine that has passed the first phase of the federal approval process but are not yet fully permitted for use. This proposal is commonly known as “right to try.”

The state government’s “economic development” agency annually has a consultant, at taxpayer expense, produce a report that includes what it dubs a return-on-investment calculation for the state’s tourism advertising effort. The report estimates how much the state gets back in tax dollars compared to what it spends to lure travelers to Michigan.

House Bill 5220, Increase allowable pepper spray concentration: Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate

To revise a prohibition on the use of pepper spray with more than a 10 percent oleoresin capsicum concentration in the reasonable defense of one's person or property. The bill would increase the maximum concentration to 18 percent, and allow the formulas to contain an ultraviolet dye. Reportedly, 45 other states allow 18 percent pepper spray concentrations.

The brick structure on Conant Street may not stand out to passersby, but the school that operates inside has earned a major distinction. No elementary or middle school in Michigan is outperforming Hamtramck Academy.

Opened in 2004, the National Heritage Academy charter school near the heart of Detroit finished as the highest-rated school on the Mackinac Center's newest Elementary and Middle School Context and Performance Report Card. The report card's unique "CAP" (Context and Performance) Scores factor three years of performance on M-STEP tests, adjusted to account for the share of students eligible for free lunch subsidies based on their household income. A strong statistical connection exists between student poverty and low academic achievement, because of the disadvantages and challenges typically faced by low-income students.

After a previous regional transit tax was rejected by voters, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans developed a new one that he’d like to submit for approval. Unfortunately, his pitch contains little about how the tax will get people to where they want to go.

In 2016, the latest year for which we have data, at least 700 innocent people lost their property through civil asset forfeiture. According to documents received through open records requests, the typical asset lost —a car or cash — was worth about $500.

While most Michigan school districts are losing students and struggling with academic achievement, Dearborn Public Schools is bucking the trend. Serving 20,000 students, the state's third-largest district is operating more than its share of top-flight schools.

In a recent op-ed in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, Doug DeVos, former chair of the West Michigan Policy Forum, outlines why “criminal justice reform is the right thing to do, for all of us.” Citing Michigan’s high corrections spending and relatively high crime rate, DeVos calls for change.

Gov. Rick Snyder moved from being a skeptic of business subsidies to a supporter over time. His latest budget shows his legacy on the issue.

His recommended budget for the state’s business subsidy programs is down slightly. It calls for $161.8 million in state taxpayer-paid subsidy programs, down from $170.9 million this year. There is an additional $28.9 million for administration, a small increase from this year.

Senate Bill 872, Extend statute of limitations on criminal sexual conduct suits: Passed 28 to 7 in the Senate

To extend to 10 years the statute of limitations on filing a civil lawsuit related to criminal sexual conduct offenses, or if the victim was a minor, until the individual turns 48 years of age, with some narrow exceptions. This would apply retroactively to offenses committed after 1996, and would not require that any criminal prosecution or other legal action was ever brought as a result of an alleged offense. Alleged victims would have to file suits within one year after the bill becomes law.

It is a travesty that state officials refuse to disclose to Michigan residents which companies are collecting how much of literally billions of state tax dollars in business subsidy payments. The state makes available a treasure trove of information on most of its spending, but mum’s the word when it comes to providing transparency on this “economic development” money.

Michigan lawmakers are in the midst of putting together the state’s budget for the next fiscal year. There is a push to put more money into roads and infrastructure. But one easy place to cut and shift the funding is the Michigan Business Development Program.

House Bill 5094, Ban credit bureaus charging for security freeze: Passed 35 to 1 in the Senate

To prohibit consumer credit rating agencies from charging a fee to place, remove or temporarily lift a security freeze on an individual who requests this. Under current law these agencies can charge $10 unless the consumer has filed an identity theft-related police report. The bill was introduced following a security breech at the Equifax agency that reportedly put 140 million individuals at risk of identity theft.

The Michigan Senate came together on a bill that raises costs for all citizens to benefit one select company.

That’s not exactly how most politicians would describe it, but that is the actual effect of Senate Bill 363. The proposed law requires the state to pay higher prices (up to 8 percent) on salt it purchases from other countries versus what it would pay to purchase salt from a company located in Michigan. It is believed that the only Michigan-based company that would benefit from an artificially higher price is the Detroit Salt Company.

Gov. Rick Snyder has pitted a generous increase in overall student funding against cuts to certain kinds of educational services some families prefer. But it doesn't have to be an either-or proposition; there are other options that could be put on the table.

The largest source of revenue for local governments is property taxes. They raised $14.0 billion for the state, schools, community colleges and local governments in 2017, a 2.42 percent increase from the previous year. Property tax revenues are approaching their 2007 peak of $14.3 billion. But with inflation, they would still be 13 percent below these peak levels.