Policy Analyst Jarrett Skorup took part in a Google Hangout with Congressman Tim Walberg on the issue of civil asset forfeiture. The event was sponsored by Generation Opportunity, a national network that connects young people “promoting economic opportunity and prosperity.”
The White House Council of Economic Advisers has released a new report about occupational licensing. It outlines the growth in licensing over the past few decades and argues that this reduces employment, raises prices and lowers wages overall.
The report recommends that states lower or eliminate this barrier to entry by establishing some “best practices.”
Until last week New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and city regulators were poised to severely limit New Yorkers’ access to ride-sharing services like Uber. Spurred on by lucrative taxi-cartel oligarchs, the regulations would have restricted the number of new Uber drivers to just one percent of the current fleet.
Bills recently introduced in the U.S. Congress would greatly increase the rights of unionized workers nationally. Known as the Employee Rights Act, the proposed legislation would amend the National Labor Relations Act, ensuring that workers have more opportunities to voice support for or opposition to the union, as well as providing more protections for workers who do not want to contribute to their union's political activity.
The Detroit News analyzes the current debate over renewable energy mandates in Michigan. A 2008 energy law eliminated most electricity choice and required 10 percent of the state’s energy to come from renewable sources – which in practical terms means windmills. Since the law went into effect, Michigan energy prices have steadily increased and are the highest in the Midwest.
Nobody wants to feel like a criminal. In fact, most people want to respect the law, but the bigger government gets, the more laws it writes, and the harder it becomes to not break the law. The Wall Street Journal reports that 1 in 3 Americans is in the FBI’s criminal database, which makes it likely that someone you know could be defined as a criminal. You may not feel they are a threat, but the government does. Perhaps your government even considers you to be a criminal.
The state will no longer offer new film productions taxpayer money to shoot movies in Michigan. This is an incredible development considering that film incentives passed with only one dissenting vote just seven years ago. Now that policymakers have acknowledged some limits on profligacy in the name of economic development, there are other programs that ought to be reviewed as well.
By Jack McHugh
The House and Senate are out for several weeks. Therefore, this report contains several recently introduced bills of interest.
Senate Bill 197: Pro-rate Michigan's electoral college presidential votes
Introduced by Sen. Dave Hildenbrand (R), to end the current winner-take-all system of allocating Michigan’s presidential electors, and instead pro-rate the state’s electoral college votes on the basis of the state’s popular vote totals. Referred to committee, no further action at this time.
"There will be blood. There will be repercussions." Such is the common threat made against those who dare take on the union juggernaut.
Michigan’s State Rep. Shenelle Jackson (D-Detroit) made the threat clear in 2012 during the passage of that state’s law on worker freedom. "What you're doing today will only serve to empower [Democrats]. We will win back this chamber, possibly take the Senate back and certainly win the governorship.”
Michigan’s recently-deceased film subsidy program showcased the lure of the California dream — movie productions dotting the state, creating economic miracles everywhere they appeared.
That particular vision did not come to pass, but there are better ways Michigan can meet, emulate or exceed California’s achievements and industry. After all, Michigan has more coastline, more fresh water and more craft breweries per capita than the Golden State.
Both the Michigan House and Senate have passed their own road funding plans after the colossal failure of Proposal 1. Both plans show that lawmakers have learned from that debacle.
The House proposal contains only a small tax hike on diesel, plus modest new assessments on electric, hybrid or “alternative” fuel vehicles (whose owners pay little or no gas tax). The rest of its new revenue for roads comes from earmarking a portion of future income tax revenue to road funding.
Michael D. LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative at the Mackinac Center, has spent years studying the unintended effects of cigarette taxes. This week, he was quoted in an article for Reason looking at the overall impact of sin taxes.
A story in the July 20 edition of the Detroit Free Press exposed various city officials using personal email addresses to conduct city business. Although city policy prohibits the use of private accounts for confidential business, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said the cases in question did not involve confidential information.
By Jack McHugh
The Senate did not meet this week, while the House convened but took no votes. This week’s Roll Call Report again examines some more recent constitutional amendment proposals of general interest.
House Joint Resolution E: Establish part time legislature
By Jack McHugh
In the pre-dawn hours of Oct. 3, 2013, heavily armed deputies raided the homes of independent political activists across the state of Wisconsin who agreed with the government union reforms enacted by Gov. Scott Walker. The raids were to seize records related to political activities and were orchestrated by a partisan district attorney under color of two poorly drafted and misguided state statutes.
Click here to find the full results from our 2015 school privatization survey.
Thank you, Ronna, for that kind introduction. It is great to be back this year, and I’m excited to present insights and data from the Mackinac Center’s expanded survey research on competitive contracting by public schools.
Earlier this year, the Mackinac Center published the study Worker's Choice — a new concept that would allow workers to represent themselves if they wish to leave their union.
Director of Labor Policy F. Vincent Vernuccio recently published an article on the concept and how it relates to current Supreme Court and NLRB cases in Forbes:
It's easy to understand how Liz Roe, a mother sending her daughter to Utica Community Schools, became so frustrated. Liz had seen her daughter, Mia, struggle with reading since kindergarten. "My brother had dyslexia," Liz said, "So, I kind of recognized the flipping of words and numbers."
Earlier this year, the Mackinac Center published a study on Overcriminalization in Michigan with the Manhattan Institute. The report discussed ways to reduce spending on prisons and shrink the prison population without jeopardizing the health and safety of Michiganders. In June, the CAPPS Report reiterated the need for reform in Michigan, and an article discussing the issue was recently published in the Lansing State Journal.
After seven years of subsidizing the film industry, Michigan's movie incentive program is over. Taxpayers contributed a total of $450 million to the industry between 2008 and 2015.
Gov. Rick Snyder signed the bill eliminating the subsidies on July 10. As a long-time critic of the program, the Mackinac Center's James Hohman commented on the outcome in the Detroit Free Press:
By Jack McHugh
While the legislature is in a two week recess with no votes to report, the Roll Call Report examines some recent constitutional amendment proposals of general interest.
House Joint Resolutions A and K, and Senate Joint Resolution F: Repeal constitutional ban on graduated income tax
The Mackinac Center has joined with groups from across the political spectrum, including the ACLU of Michigan and FreedomWorks, to push back against Michigan's civil asset forfeiture laws.
Civil asset forfeiture is a practice that allows law enforcement to take possession of private property without charging the owner with a crime. Some states, as well as the federal government, have taken steps to curb this injustice in recent years, but Michigan's laws were recently rated a 'D' by FreedomWorks in a national survey of forfeiture laws.
State Rep. Jim Townsend wants to amend Michigan’s constitution to allow a graduated state income tax, and raise the maximum rate to 10 percent. This would hurt the state as a whole, including those he wants to help.
The prosperity of this and every other state is determined by its rate of economic growth. And for growth, what matters is not the average tax rate but the marginal tax rate. That is, the amount of extra taxes an individual must pay on his or her next dollar of income. The higher the marginal rate the less incentive a person has to work overtime, study to get a better job, make an investment or take the risk of starting a business.
The national grassroots group FreedomWorks, which has 6.9 million members and supports limited government, gives Michigan a “D” in a new report about civil asset forfeiture.
The report card, “Civil Asset Forfeiture: Grading the States,” bases their ratings on the standard of proof the government must meet to forfeit property, who has the burden of proof (the state or the individual), and what percentage of forfeiture funds go to law enforcement.
By Kahryn Riley
An individual’s right to pursue an honest occupation without arbitrary governmental interference has been promoted and protected throughout Anglo-American history. But today that right is being reinterpreted and compromised, largely due to the overuse of protectionist occupational licensing schemes. Occupational licensing is often used as a tool to stifle competition and to limit disfavored groups. Unfortunately, it also has a long history of being abused to perpetuate racial inequality, including attempts to exclude the Chinese from construction jobs on California railroads and African-Americans from skilled trades such as plumbing. Even in the absence of racism, however, a legal construct known as the “rational basis” test makes it very difficult for entrepreneurs to successfully challenge the constitutionality of licensing laws in court.
