Right now, if a Michigan citizen goes to get a car repaired, it is fairly simple for the owner of the vehicle and a mechanic to decide what kind of parts to use to provide the fix. Unless a bill that has passed the Michigan Legislature is vetoed by Gov. Snyder, that process is about to get a lot more complicated.
By Jack McHugh
Note: Due to a House session that ran late, this report does not include votes from Thursday. These will be reported in the next Roll Call Report.
House Bill 4578, Authorize school recreation taxes: Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate
To add school districts to a law that lets several local governments organize a recreational authority with the power to levy up to one-mill of property tax for swimming pools, recreation centers, public auditoriums, public conference centers and parks. The law is silent on whether the recreational facilities could be school facilities if the bill becomes law, but does require them to be open to the public. It also requires voters in each municipality to approve one of these tax levies.
There are rumors on Mackinac Island that there is an attempt to create a new state venture capital fund. It seems like these ideas pop up every couple of years. The results, though, have been expensive and underwhelming.
A 2003 program, the Venture Michigan Fund, is coming back to bite state taxpayers right now. The state issued a bunch of tax vouchers that would zap the budget if the deals behind them didn’t work out. Some did not, and the state was on the hook for an expected $140 million. Worse, the program may end up costing another $310 million. If the program was successful in creating jobs, the results were unreported. There are bills to wind this program down.
In Bridge Magazine, former state House Fiscal Agency director Mitch Bean writes:
In addition to property tax cuts, changes to the sales tax base have reduced constitutional revenue sharing payments to cities, villages and townships (CVT) by $27.3 million in FY 2014 and by $181.2 million cumulatively since Proposal A in 1994.
The stated purpose of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy is to improve the quality of life for all Michigan citizens by advancing the principles of a free-market economy, limited government and respect for private property. To many people, these seem like abstractions, and to those who believe in a larger and more intrusive state, they are obstacles to be overcome.
By Jack McHugh
House Bill 4787, Authorize enhanced penalties for abortion coercion: Passed 26 to 11 in the Senate
To authorize enhanced penalties for threatening or committing a “stalking” or assaultive crime with the intent to coerce a pregnant female to have an abortion, or taking other coercive actions with that goal. The bill authorizes additional fines of $5,000 to $10,000 on top of penalties imposed for the underlying crimes.
The best research on school choice in Detroit shows that it leads to better results at a much lower cost to taxpayers. As Mackinac Center’s Director of Education Policy Ben DeGrow writes in The Detroit News:
The best study on charter schools in Michigan is from the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University. This study paired individual students in charter schools with their “virtual twins” in district-run schools, based on their gender, race, grade level, family income, and academic ability as measured by standardized tests. It then compared the gains that these students in charter schools made compared to their “control group,” students just like them enrolled in district-run schools.
By Ben DeGrow
Those anticipating the release of Michigan’s education adequacy study learned this week that, once again, they will have to wait a little longer. While the precise detailed findings are unknown, the embargoed report’s general conclusions should not remain a matter of mystery.
Days after the Detroit Free Press published an op-ed he authored on the same topic, Mackinac Center Executive Vice President Michael Reitz was interviewed on Michigan Radio’s “Stateside” program about the need for more transparency in the executive and legislative branches.
The following is an edited version of the remarks and slides presented by Thomas A. Shull, an adjunct scholar with the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, at The Cato Institute’s May 16 celebration of the life of Andrew J. Coulson. Coulson, who died of a brain tumor in February 2016, was a Cato Institute senior fellow at the time of his death and a former senior fellow in education policy at the Mackinac Center. Coulson was also the author of the groundbreaking book “Market Education: The Unknown History.” He was 48 years old at the time of his death.
I took this photo at 10:30 p.m. earlier this week at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. It’s the taxi stand outside Terminal B, where dozens of tired travelers were waiting in line for cabs to take them to their destinations.
A minute and a half after I snapped this shot, I was in a Mazda driven by a very pleasant man named Alireza, en route to my hotel thanks to the Uber app on my smartphone. Just three taxis had arrived in the interim to take away the long-suffering residents of the DCA cabstand.
For over a decade, local governments in Michigan have been complaining they need more money from state taxpayers. A recent push by Wayne County Executive Warren Evans is only the most recent example.
That is what they say, but how they act suggests their fiscal complaints are exaggerated. For example, providing post-retirement health care benefits to employees is an expense that should be the first to go if there is a real financial problem.
By Jack McHugh
House Bill 4344, Mandate auto repair shops use vehicle maker's own parts: Passed 33 to 4 in the Senate
To codify into law a comprehensive regulatory regime that is currently imposed on vehicle repair facilities through administrative regulations, including a state registration mandate. Among other things, the bill would prohibit a repair shop from replacing a major part on a newer vehicle with one not made by the vehicle's maker, which has been criticized as protectionism benefiting the Big Three and other car makers.
A ridesharing entrepreneur who recently participated in a panel discussion at a Mackinac Center Issues and Ideas Forum in Lansing shared his story with Lansing State Journal readers in a recent op-ed.
Tim VanDongen began driving for Uber and Lyft as a way to make extra money, but eventually was earning enough to leave his primary job and make a career out of driving. Now, he has started a company, Ryde Media, which puts advertisements in Uber and Lyft vehicles.
Sports writer and commentator Bill Simmons is transitioning from ESPN to a new show on HBO. In his promotional, “I Believe,” the never-gun-shy Simmons lays out some of his positions.
His last statement is the most notable: “I believe billionaires should pay for their own [expletive] stadiums.”
Michigan’s success in contracting non-instructional services to keep money in the classroom was highlighted in a recent op-ed arguing the benefits of allowing districts to use private companies for janitorial, busing and food services.
The Chicago Daily Herald op-ed, co-authored by Michael LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative at the Mackinac Center, and Kristina Rasmussen, executive vice president of the Illinois Policy Institute, explains why an Illinois law that makes it difficult for schools to use contractors for non-instructional services hurts children:
It is a common trope in Michigan and elsewhere that the path to state prosperity is to have high taxes and quality services, with Minnesota pointed to as the paragon. Yet high taxes do not guarantee quality services, as Detroit can attest.
Detroit has the highest effective property taxes in the country, according to the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence’s 2014 property tax study. For commercial property at all different values, Detroit is No. 1 in the nation. For homesteaded property, only Bridgeport, Connecticut surpasses Detroit. Detroit also has the highest property taxes for most values of industrial property. Only New York City has higher property taxes on apartments than Detroit. All of these rates are higher than those in Minneapolis. The one saving grace for property taxpayers in Detroit is that the net tax burden has decreased with the collapse in real estate values in the city.
More does not always mean better, especially when it comes to education funding.
This finding was the subject of a recent op-ed co-authored by Mackinac Center Education Policy Director Ben DeGrow and Edward Hoang, assistant professor of economics at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, who co-authored a study examining the relationship between education funding and student performance.
Ridesharing companies operate in six cities in Michigan and have provided job opportunities and rides to thousands of Michiganders. But they currently operate in a legal gray area, putting drivers at risk. We recently spoke to a handful of drivers for Uber about their experiences and why it is important to establish statewide regulations to protect the service.
The federal government is seizing a historic Detroit recording studio under its forfeiture laws. It appears to be a case where forfeiture may be justified, but provides us with an example to talk about how forfeiture should be used.
The Detroit Free Press sums up the case:
The Mackinac Center and Sierra Club often hold different positions on policy, but have come together to call for a more transparent and accountable government. The Detroit Free Press recently published an op-ed written by David Holtz, chairman of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, and Michael Reitz, executive vice president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
The International Economic Development Council is recognizing its 90th anniversary by promoting what it calls “Economic Development Week,” designed to celebrate its industry and professionals. Yet the act of governments using tax dollars to pick winners and losers is nothing to celebrate. If anything, government development agencies interfere with rather than facilitate economic well-being, particularly when they use targeted tax deals and subsidies.
By Jack McHugh
Senate Bill 739, Authorize 2-mill DARTA property tax and limit: Passed 32 to 5 in the Senate
To specify that the property tax that the Detroit Regional Transit Authority may collect under a 2012 law may be for up to 2 mills but not more, which at that rate would reportedly extract an additional $300 million annually from Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne County property owners. Also, to exempt this tax from being skimmed by a “tax capture” authority’s tax increment finance scheme (for example a downtown development authority).
By Ben DeGrow
Overshadowed by important debates and competing proposals about the future of education in Detroit, a longshot legislative proposal to give special-needs students access to more opportunities has exposed the priorities of school choice foes.
House Joint Resolution B by Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Saginaw, would place a constitutional amendment before Michigan voters to allow families of special-needs students to use public funds to support their child even if they enroll in a private school. A favorable vote from two-thirds of House members would be needed to place the idea before voters on the ballot.
A new bill in the Michigan Legislature would prevent local governments from banning or overregulating the use of plastic bags commonly used by consumers. Senate Bill 853, sponsored by Sen. Jim Stamas, R-Midland, would “pre-empt local governments from imposing regulations and restrictions on plastic grocery bags or other ‘auxiliary containers,’ defined as a disposable or reusable bag, cup, bottle, or other packaging.” The bill passed the full Senate recently and heads to the House.
