Mackinac Center Executive Vice President Michael Reitz was featured in Monday’s edition of Stateside on Michigan Radio to discuss the need for more transparency in government in light of what is happening in Flint.
“The justification for FOIA unfortunately is very clear and very apparent in situations like the one we have now with the Flint water crisis where decisions were made that will affect people’s lives in horrific ways for years and years to come,” Reitz told host Cynthia Canty. “The people of Flint and the people of Michigan justifiably want to know who made these decisions and how were they made and why did we get it wrong.”
With West Virginia poised to become the nation's 26th right-to-work state, the Mackinac Center’s Director of Labor Policy F. Vincent Vernuccio and Michigan Capitol Confidential reporter Jason Hart co-authored an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail. The piece explains worker freedom and details how it has improved quality of life in other states:
Scarce tax dollars are needed to fill the gap between what has been promised workers in the school pension fund and what the state has saved to make good on those promises. Yet some officials shrug off the underfunding as the cost of doing business.
The cost of underfunding pensions to school budgets is massive: $6 billion to $7.8 billion would have been saved if employees had been offered defined-contribution benefits over the past decade — enough to pay for every public school teacher salary for a year.
In 2015, four states totally deregulated African-style hair braiders. The Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm, notes that this style of braiding uses no chemicals and is extremely safe. But according to a 2014 IJ report, more than 20 states still require braiders to get thousands of hours of training and purchase a state license. Fortunately, Michigan does not require braiders to take extra classes or pay fees, and as such, is one of 10 states to which IJ gives an A rating.
By Jack McHugh
Senate Bill 434, Authorize highway drug testing pilot program: Passed 28 to 10 in the Senate
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
New research from the Virginia-based Mercatus Center indicates that schemes to ration health care services through certificate-of-need requirements — such as those imposed in Michigan — increase the difficulty of getting access to health care services while doing nothing to reduce their costs.
By Jack McHugh
Senate Bill 90, Create African-American Affairs Commission: Passed 34 to 2 in the Senate
To create an Office of African-American Affairs in the state Department of Civil Rights, and a government African-American Affairs Commission consisting of 15 political appointees who have "a particular interest or expertise in African-American concerns," with the mission of developing “a unified policy and plan of action to serve the needs of African-Americans in this state.”
You might get the impression that no one in Michigan values higher education, given the way university funding gets portrayed. A new report from a group called the Young Invincibles gives the state an F for the size of its subsidies to public universities. But the numbers tell a different story.
By Ben DeGrow
Some Michigan officials are preparing to tell us how many more dollars ought to be poured into the state’s K-12 school system. They expect to have an official report in hand soon to make their case, but other recently released numbers raise some tough questions.
A limousine company based out of Dearborn Heights is suing Uber for failing to abide by Michigan’s 25-year-old Limousine Transportation Act. At first glance, the lawsuit seems like an attempt to take down a competitor: The same limousine company filing the lawsuit recently had its operating license revoked by the state for failure to comply with the same regulations it’s now accusing Uber of not complying with. It’s like when kids get caught whispering in class and their first reaction is: “But he was doing it too!”
On the scale of human transgressions, littering probably doesn’t rise much above a white lie. Yes, it creates an eyesore but it seldom actually does any harm, and as such, many communities regard it as a simple civil infraction. But in Michigan, cities and townships can set their own criminal statutes and the result can be a hodgepodge of offenses and punishments. For example, if you miss the trash can in Ann Arbor, you could be guilty of a crime.
In the Friedrichs case before the U.S. Supreme Court, the core of union-supporters' argument is that government employees should be forced to pay fees to a union because they benefit from union activities. Not paying the union, they say, makes an employee a free rider.
On January 11, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, which centers around public sector unions and the first amendment.
The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation filed an amicus brief in the case, arguing that when a union bargains with the government, all its activities are inherently political. Forcing a worker to subsidize those activities is therefore a violation of that worker's first amendment rights.
When an individual moves far away from the place where he or she may have grown up or lived for years, it means a lot. It’s also meaningful for economists, because migration may be the single best indicator of quality-of-life differences between states. People only move for important reasons, which can include following job and career opportunities, or just looking for a nicer climate or view.
The high cost of government pension plans are often dismissed by blaming them on either employees abusing the system for plush benefits or poor investment returns due to a temporary market blip.
Neither is correct. The real problem is the assumptions used to prefund future retirement benefits. To keep pension costs from draining resources meant to fund current services, Michigan politicians at all levels should address the pension underfunding crisis in 2016.
In a recent article about government control of alcohol sales and distribution, the Weekly Standard referenced a 2012 Mackinac Center for Public Policy report that found government control of alcohol sales does not always have the desired effect.
Governments that control the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages say it's necessary to fulfill their Prohibition-era mandate to restrict alcohol consumption. But a 2012 Mackinac Center report by Michael LaFaive and Antony Davies measured alcohol-related deaths by state and found that lightly regulated "license" states tended to have lower alcohol-related death rates than highly regulated "control" states. Eight of the 10 states with the lowest alcohol-related death rates are license states.
Several news outlets, including The Detroit News, recently covered an instance of union bullying first reported by Michigan Capitol Confidential. Local 412 of the United Auto Workers published in its newsletter the names of employees who have chosen to exercise their right to not belong to a union — as allowed by Michigan’s right-to-work law. In addition to printing nonmembers’ names, the union also urged remaining members not to “share any tools, knowledge or support for any of these employees who choose not to pay their fair share.”
By Ben DeGrow
As Detroit’s public school system spirals toward insolvency and Michigan political leaders talk of bailouts and whether the district should remain under state receivership, one key group remains largely voiceless: parents of the Detroit children whose futures depend on having access to quality schools, regardless of what political entity operates them.
The Michigan Legislature recently passed Senate Bill 571, which, among other things, would, “prohibit schools and local governments from sending any communication to residents that mentions an upcoming property tax millage election within 60 days of the vote.”
New numbers from the Census Bureau on how many people move from state to state underscore another aspect of the right-to-work debate that does not often take center stage: Americans continue to move to right-to-work states.
The Mackinac Center has long viewed changes in the number of people in a state as perhaps the single best tool for measuring the quality of life there. After all, there are reasons people pack up and move, and those reasons reflect an individual’s self-interest. Economic opportunities are a clear reason to move, as are amenities such as access to coastal waters or more temperate climates.
In Michigan, government entities, such as school districts, must pay all contractors union wages for construction projects — the so-called prevailing wage. This wage rate is established by the state and is based on wages collectively bargained for by unions in the region where the construction work is being done. Market wages set by open competition are explicitly forbidden. The law was first enacted in 1965 when a much larger portion of Michigan’s construction force was unionized, but today, in the construction industry, only one-fifth of workers belong to labor unions.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s Director of Labor Policy F. Vincent Vernuccio was quoted recently in The Detroit News’ latest coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court case Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association that could make all public sector employees right-to-work.
By Jack McHugh
Now with one click you can approve or disapprove of key votes by your legislators using the VoteSpotter smart phone app. Visit votespotter.com and download VoteSpotter today!
House Bill 4095, Authorize $51 million in new debt for college & university building projects: Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate
Editor's note: Gov. Rick Snyder has signed House Bill 4713 since this blog was first posted. It is now Public Act 250 of 2015.
The Michigan Legislature unanimously passed House Bill 4713 this week. The bill provides legal protections for individuals by clarifying how certain crimes may be prosecuted.
A recent report from Lansing-based MIRS News indicated that state tourism officials are closely monitoring the travel accommodations website Airbnb. The site brings together travelers looking for a place to stay and property owners willing to rent a room, apartment or house for a few days. These peer-to-peer exchanges are often compared to Uber’s ride-sharing service.
