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.
Workers deserve a choice not only when it comes to union membership, but also in whether they will work under a union-negotiated contract.
F. Vincent Vernuccio, director of labor policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, and Jeremy Lott, an adjunct scholar with the Center, wrote about Rep. Gary Glenn’s new Worker’s Choice bill in an op-ed published by the Midland Daily News. House Bill 5829 would give Michigan’s government employees the freedom to pay dues to a union and allow it to bargain on their behalf, or not pay union dues and negotiate directly with their employer.
By Jason Hayes
It is getting more crisp and cool in the morning. In Michigan, we’re getting back into the habit of scraping the frost off our windows before we get in the car and head to work. We’re also remembering the location of the thermostat in our homes so we can take the chill off the morning temperatures.
Michigan residents and business owners need more choices when it comes to electricity, but a bill making its way through Lansing would put an end to the limited options that currently exist.
Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s Director of Environmental Policy Jason Hayes and adjunct scholar Ted Bolema wrote about the impact Senate Bill 437 would have in an op-ed published by Bridge magazine. Despite supporters’ claims that the bill would not affect consumers who use Michigan’s limited electricity choice program, Hayes and Bolema cite a report from UBS Financial Services that found electricity choice would “whither organically under the law.”
By Ben DeGrow
A resolution pushing back on proposed new federal guidelines for education funding received broad bipartisan support this week in Lansing. Where a top-down mandate meets resistance, local initiative could pick up slack to address the underlying issue.
Michigan and other states are actively competing to become medical tourism destinations. Whether they succeed depends in large part on opening the state’s medical care delivery systems to competition and innovation and tearing down current protectionist barriers. These same reforms will make health care better and more affordable for our own residents too.
Lawmakers hear odd arguments when attempting to reform the state’s underfunded pension system. The latest argument is that converting Michigan’s school employee pension program to a defined-contribution system will tarnish the state’s credit rating. For evidence that this is unlikely, Michigan can look to its own history, which shows that offering new workers defined-contribution retirement benefits instead of defined-benefit pensions can improve a state’s credit rating.
A ballot measure to increase Wayne County property taxes to fund regional transit is stuck in past, focusing on transportation technology of the 1800s.
During a debate on Sunday’s episode of Michigan Matters hosted by CBS’ Carol Cain, Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications John Mozena raised questions about the 20-year RTA transit tax plan that would rely on buses and trains.
By Jack McHugh
The House held a pro-forma session with no votes this week, but the Senate passed a number of bills in its final session before the Nov. 8 election.
Senate Bill 979, Authorize .5 mill Flint property tax for spending and subsidies: Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate
