People like art. That’s good — it’s something that should be treasured and shared widely. But politicians have often taken that to mean government should subsidize it.
That’s been the trend in recent decades. At the federal level, taxpayers spend $148 million through the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, both established in 1965. Federal arts spending has consistently gone up for decades, but based on the response to suggestions that it be cut slightly, you might conclude no art was produced in the United States before 1965.
Michigan’s occupational licensing laws — rules that forbid people from working in certain jobs before they’ve jumped through the right hoops — are among the most stringent in the Midwest. A review of the evidence, from scholars on both the political left and right, shows that licensing laws lead to fewer jobs, lower overall income, worse income inequality, larger prison populations and higher prices for consumers.
Last week, Americans for Tax Reform and a broad range of center-right organizations sent a letter to key policymakers in Congress and the executive branch urging passage of legislation to simplify and reduce the burden imposed by the federal tax code. The Mackinac Center was one of the signatories.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is content with a 4.25 percent state income tax rate, and the Legislature lacks the votes for even a small tax cut. But 2018 will be Snyder’s last year in office, and every seat in the state House and Senate will be on the ballot. Whether taxpayers get any relief, then, appears to be in the hands of voters in next year’s primary and general elections.
By Jack McHugh
Senate Bill 335, Revise campaign finance law to reflect Citizens United ruling: Passed 23 to 12 in the Senate
To revise Michigan campaign finance law provisions that violate the holding of the U.S. Supreme Court in the Citizens United case. The decision limited the power of congress and state legislatures to restrict election-related political speech by corporations, including non-profit groups motivated by ideological or political concerns.
By Kahryn Riley
People who commit crimes should be punished. But in most cases, the punishment shouldn’t hang over the offender’s head for the rest of his life. The Legislature has made progress on a bill amending the law that prohibits felons from working for the Department of Corrections. The Corrections Code currently forbids the department from employing anyone who has a felony conviction or felony charges pending. The bill, sponsored by Dave Pagel, R-Berrien Springs, would change that. It would remove the blanket prohibition and require the department to establish a policy for hiring some ex-offenders.
By Jack McHugh
Senate Bill 409, Facilitate private home Great Lakes harbor leases: Passed 26 to 12 in the Senate
To authorize 50 year "bottomland" leases to owners of single-family homes on Great Lakes shorelines who want to create a private, non-commercial, recreational harbor formed by a breakwater. Owners would have to pay 1 percent of their home's state equalized property value in an up-front lump sum payment every 25 years. The money would go into a segregated account that pays for parts of the Department of Environmental Quality's operations.
In 2014, Michigan Congressman Dave Camp rolled out a major tax reform proposal. It hit all of the main pillars that economists across the political spectrum thought would spur economic growth – it lowered rates, expanded the base, was revenue neutral and eliminated many company and industry favors.
By Jason Hayes
Michigan’s Public Service Commission and the monopoly utilities it regulates appear committed to imposing an in-state generation mandate on Michigan’s electricity choice providers. But the Commission’s own lawyers say the plan would harm the reliability of the electric system, push electricity costs up and even contradict federal policy.
In The Detroit News, Michigan Tech President Glenn Mroz argues for more taxpayer spending on state universities. Students that get degrees, he explains, earn more than those without them. But he never says that giving state universities more taxpayers dollars will result in more students earning degrees. It won’t.
There have been some recent developments and debates on the tourism front. They involve empty criticism of the Mackinac Center’s tourism study; an Auditor General investigation into a Pure Michigan consultant’s reports and the announcement that the Michigan Economic Development Corporation will again bid out the right to calculate a return on investment for the Pure Michigan program. They are worth sharing with the public.
By Ben DeGrow
A recent Bridge Magazine headline proclaimed: “Michigan failing its special needs children, parents and studies say.” Yet the reporting remarkably omitted a key player from the conversation: intermediate school districts.
The article says that, on average, Michigan students with disabilities trail their peers in other states. Test scores are lower, dropout rates are higher, and many more special-needs students are diverted from mainstream classrooms into segregated environments.
By Jack McHugh
Senate Bill 496: Criminalize endangering an animal by leaving it in a vehicle
Introduced by Sen. Curtis Hertel, Jr. (D), to make it a crime to leave an animal in a vehicle in conditions that could cause harm (too hot, too cold, etc.). The bill authorizes penalties starting at 45 days in jail if no harm ensues, and up to five years in prison if the animal dies. Republican Sen. Rick Jones sponsored a companion bill with sentencing guidelines. Referred to committee, no further action at this time.
The state recently approved its latest round of business subsidies, announcing that three companies would receive taxpayer money to create “at least” 1,500 new jobs. If history is a guide, few of these jobs will ever materialize. But monthly award announcements from the state serve as reminders that there are specific people that state lawmakers care about more about than residents.
By Jack McHugh
The Legislature continues a summer break with no sessions scheduled until Sept. 6. Rather than votes this report contains some interesting or noteworthy bills introduced during the first half of the year.
Senate Bill 443: Revise definition of school bullying
As long as people have different interests and abilities, in a free society, there will be some income inequality. But government-imposed barriers can make it more pronounced by placing unnecessary obstacles in front of people trying to get ahead.
Economists across the spectrum are concerned about this problem. And there is some agreement about how to help fix it.
In a paper dated June 26, 2017, Oxford Economics (the parent company of Tourism Economics) published a review of our work on state-funded tourism promotion. As a faculty member who regularly participates on both sides of peer review (some two dozen times each year), I offer a brief response.
There are 540 public school districts in Michigan and we contact each of them every summer to find out whether they contract out for food, custodial or transportation services. This effort has shown that there has been a drastic increase in the practice since 2001 when we first surveyed districts. Today, 71.5 percent of districts report contracting out for at least one of these three noninstructional services.
Last Thursday night the Wisconsin Assembly passed a $3 billion subsidy package for Foxconn, a multinational corporation famous for manufacturing Apple’s iPhone, among other items. The subsidy, Republican leaders and others said, was needed to ensure the corporation would choose Wisconsin for a new manufacturing facility.
It’s well known that talk comes cheap to politicians the world over. In Lansing, even legislators’ written and published ideals are tossed aside for Michigan’s richest men — billionaire Dan Gilbert as one example — or some multinational corporation — like Foxconn of Taiwan as another. Lansing politicians still make sure the superrich get to play by different rules than everyone else.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published in The Oklahoman on August 25, 2017.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has declared the state's new $1.50-per-pack fee on cigarettes to be unconstitutional. This means a special session could be in the offing to pass a new cigarette tax of equal measure. Any debate must consider whether the attendant lawlessness the higher tax would inspire — including widespread smuggling — would undermine its health goals.
By Jack McHugh
The Legislature continues a summer break with no sessions scheduled until Sept. 6. The House and Senate convened pro-forma sessions one day this week in which no business or roll calls took place. So rather than votes this report contains some interesting or noteworthy bills introduced during the first half of the year.
In Michigan, the dues skim against home-based day care providers like Mackinac Center Legal Foundation clients Sherry Loar, Michelle Berry and Paulette Silverson ended in 2011. A similar skim against home health caregivers like Foundation clients Patricia and Robert Haynes ended in 2013 but only after surviving a 2012 attempt by the Service Employee International Union to constitutionalize the skim.
State lawmakers passed two programs this year to give the businesses they select taxpayer dollars. It’s the kind of policy that tells regular people that they don’t matter while the important people get to play by their own rules.
Our laws are supposed to set the guidelines for everyone to follow. These programs, by contrast, give the favored few an advantage. This is disrespectful to the people that have to pay for those favors.
By Ben DeGrow
An increasing number of school districts want to open their doors to students in August. This growing demand provides further justification for ending the requirement that districts ask state bureaucrats for permission to start the academic year before Labor Day.
