A friend asked how much money we would save if we enacted good criminal justice reform. The answer is, “It’s complicated, but it’s much more than you might think, and the money may not even be the most important reason to do it.”
Good criminal justice policy doesn’t just save money — it saves lives. Preventing crime and managing or rehabilitating criminals is a core function of a valid government and a critical ingredient in a healthy society. Administering justice and building stronger communities is good for victims, perpetrators, and for those who will never directly experience crime. It’s impossible to put a price tag on social cohesion, peace of mind, and trust in the rule of law, but these things are invaluable for making our society and economy function.
Michigan taxpayers have spent a whopping $261 million on tourism promotion over the past decade with little to show for it, other than some feel-good commercials and flashy billboards highlighting the most photogenic parts of the state.
Such is the finding of a new Mackinac Center for Public Policy study on the effectiveness of state-funded tourism promotion efforts like Pure Michigan.
Michigan voters may have turned out in record numbers to last week’s election, but those who followed the law left their cell phones home, or at least in their pocket or purse.
That’s because ballot pictures, or selfies, that have become popular among social media users are currently prohibited in Michigan and 16 other states. In a recent op-ed for The Detroit News, Mackinac Center Policy Analyst Kahryn Riley wrote about the ballot-selfie ban and argued they should be allowed as a matter of free speech.
While all eyes were on who would win the presidency on Election Day, something interesting and perhaps unexpected was happening down-ballot: union members were defying union leadership and voting for candidates and measures likely to increase employee freedom in the future.
The public expects politicians at all levels to create jobs. But this is a tough thing to demonstrate. The decisions made by business owners to add jobs tend to be done without asking for permission from politicians.
The same goes for closing down a business or shedding jobs. And the jobs created by taxpayer-funded economic development programs — those that politicians take credit for — have a negligible impact on the large and permissionless job creation that drives Michigan’s economy.
Voters in Wayne County rejected a ballot measure last week that would have increased their property taxes to fund an antiquated regional transit system.
Detroiters already pay the highest effective property taxes in the country, and the Regional Transit Authority millage would have raised taxes by $4.6 billion. Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s Vice President for Marketing and Communications surmised in a recent Crain’s Detroit Business article that voters said “no” to the measure because it would have focused on transportation technology of the past that wouldn’t have helped public-transit users in the future.
By Jack McHugh
Senate Bill 437, Centrally plan statewide power grid, require more wind turbines: Passed 26 to 11 in the Senate
To re-write the state law regulating electric utility monopolies. The bill is premised on Obama EPA regulations forcing closure of existing coal-fired generating plants and ordering states to re-organize their electric power grid systems (which President-elect Trump has promised to repeal). It would essentially replace a market-driven process for new power plant capacity and site decisions with a centralized state process. On its face the bill retains current provisions that allow other power generators to compete with monopoly utilities for a 10 percent slice of the commercial market, but current choice customers contend that details would end competition. The bill would also increase a mandate that utilities get more power from so-called renewable sources, which could mean hundreds of additional industrial wind turbine towers in many rural communities.
By Kahryn Riley
Reeling from a long, noisy election cycle? Step back for a moment to consider the following reforms. These bipartisan proposals would reduce both crime and corrections spending in Michigan, helping our state become safer, freer and more prosperous.
These and other proposals by Michigan’s House and Senate are currently under consideration. In a chaotic political atmosphere, these reforms offer clear benefits and the opportunity for Michiganders to come together to do something positive.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is pleased to announce that it’s adding two new members to its Board of Scholars. This group of academics and business leaders supports and contributes to the Center’s mission of improving the quality of life in Michigan through high-quality, public policy research that promotes the benefits of free markets, limited government and the rule of law.
In 1980, a famous bet was made that has fascinated economists and environmentalists alike ever since. Paul Ehrlich is a biologist who became famous with a 1968 book called “The Population Bomb.” In it, he predicted imminent megadeath due to the world not having enough resources to meet human needs.
By Jason Hayes
While most of the world was following election results, another key issue that will heavily affect Michiganders was moving in the state Legislature. Regulations covering energy and electricity choice have been ramping up there, but national events should put a halt to Michigan Republicans fast-tracking this issue.
Amid everything else that happened last night, one result was an unexpected victory for public policy prudence and humility with the defeat of the 20-year millage proposal to fund mass transit expansion in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw counties.
Worker freedom continues to be a winning issue at the state level. Candidates who supported right-to-work were widely successful, and this creates promise for more gains for labor reform in upcoming months and years.
Three states — Missouri, Kentucky and New Hampshire — will have legislatures and governors who support passing right-to-work legislation and possibly other related labor reforms.
A Nov. 8 Kent County ballot proposal would impose an annual $9.2 million property tax to subsidize the Grand Rapids Public Museum and the John Ball Zoo. Voters may not realize that the proposal also distributes new tax revenue to other government entities, too.
By Jack McHugh
The Legislature did not meet this week, so the Roll Call Report continues its review of key votes from the 2015-2016 session.
Senate Bill 434, Authorize highway drug testing pilot program: Passed 28 to 10 in the Senate on January 20, 2016
To authorize a one year pilot program in five counties for roadside drug testing, to determine whether drivers are operating vehicles while under the influence of a controlled substance (marijuana in particular) by means of “oral fluid analysis” (saliva test). After the first year the State Police could continue the pilot programs in other counties.
By Kahryn Riley
Reforms to Michigan’s $2 billion criminal justice system may still be on the agenda for the short amount of time left in this legislative session. The Michigan Senate passed a wide-ranging criminal justice reform package in May, and the House passed several more targeted proposals over the last year. And Gov. Snyder has said this issue is a top priority.
By Kahryn Riley
In 2003, Michigan made national headlines by passing several dramatic criminal justice reforms, including repealing mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses. Thirteen years later, three significant measures are before the current Legislature, and they have re-ignited the debate about corrections practices.
In the past year, we have worked to produce a scholarly, readable and transparent study about state subsidized tourism promotion. Our goal was to measure statistically — and with publicly available data — any impact that the state’s highly touted Pure Michigan program has had on Michigan taxpayers. We found a negative one.
By Kahryn Riley
Michigan’s ban on “ballot selfies” — photos that voters take of themselves and their ballots in the voting booth — was lifted for four days last week before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals stepped in and put it back into effect, for now.
The brief reprieve occurred after a decision in a lawsuit filed by a Portage man, Joel Crookston, against the Secretary of State. In 2012, Crookston published a Facebook post that featured a photo he had taken of his ballot, where he had written in a friend’s name.
A new study examines the economic impact of government tourism advertising programs. We are the authors of that work, called “An Analysis of State-Funded Tourism Promotion,” which offers empirical support for the hypothesis that these programs are ineffective.
A recent article in Bridge magazine claimed school choice is causing segregation in metro Detroit, but Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s Director of Education Policy Ben DeGrow said there’s more to the charter-school picture.
While determining if “segregation has occurred as the result of numerous voluntary decisions is complicated and controversial,” DeGrow said in a recent op-ed for The Detroit News that some studies have shed light on what happens when choice is allowed.
It might be Halloween, but the ghosts and goblins aren’t necessarily the scariest things roaming our state.
In the spirit of the season, here’s some of the spoooookiest policy ideas we’ve seen let loose recently to terrify the (mostly) innocent people of Michigan:
By Ben DeGrow
Flint’s Northridge Academy is still settling into its new, more spacious Coldwater Road campus. The public charter school has shown significant growth in core academics. Now the opportunity lies ahead to expand its footprint and its range of programming.
As Wayne County exits its direct state oversight, some are continuing the call for more money to local governments. Yet Michigan’s taxpayers already are providing local governments with more revenue.
Cities, villages, townships and counties have two major sources of operating revenues: property taxes and sales taxes. No local government levies a sales tax, but the state shares a portion of its sales tax revenue with local governments, with a portion mandated by the constitution and a portion that lawmakers determine annually.
By Jack McHugh
The Legislature did not meet this week, so the Roll Call Report continues its review of key votes from the 2015-2016 session.
House Bill 4713, Require “culpable mental state” for criminal conviction: Passed 106 to 0 in the House on October 1, 2015
To establish a presumption that if a law does not indicate whether a culpable mental state (“mens rea”) is required to establish guilt for a crime, then this is required (subject to various specified exceptions). This means prosecutors must show that a defendant violated the law “purposely, knowingly or recklessly.” Currently, many complex administrative offenses authorize criminal penalties for actions that a regular person would not know are illegal.
