A common refrain heard from policymakers is that there is no extra money in the budget for roads, or for most any other priority. Michigan’s continued economic growth, however, has in fact resulted in extra cash available to meet the Legislature’s spending priorities.
There has been abundant interest in the topic of civil forfeiture in Michigan recently. The Mackinac Center first published a study on this issue in the late 1990s, but we have highlighted the problems with this policy more in recent years.
Last year, Michigan Capitol Confidential broke several stories about state residents who had their property seized for over a year before being charged with a crime. The news service also highlighted stories about people losing their property without law enforcement ever pursuing charges. This year, we talked to legislators, hosted events, debated, teamed up with allies, pointed out polling and published a new study.
Michael LaFaive, director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative at the Mackinac Center, recently co-authored an op-ed with Elizabeth Stelle, director of policy analysis at the Commonwealth Foundation, on the unintended consequences of high cigarette taxes.
Although the Mackinac Center focuses on overcriminalization issues at the state level, Michigan is not alone in the fight to clarify and condense crimes. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) recently published an op-ed in Salt Lake City’s Deseret News, recommending federal reforms highly reminiscent of the Mackinac Center’s suggestions for Michigan criminal law.
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 4505, Increase civil asset forfeiture burden of proof: Passed 38 to 0 in the Senate
The state’s most potent power is the ability to penalize a person for crimes committed. Thus, the manner in which the state administers that responsibility is a fundamental issue of liberty.
The fiscal component is of concern as well; every year Michigan’s corrections budget consumes nearly 2 billion state taxpayer dollars. The business community, always interested in a talented and vibrant workforce, recognizes the value of training and societal assimilation for former inmates. Finally, it is appropriate to evaluate how free-market solutions can improve the efficiency of the justice system.
On Oct. 7, the Michigan Senate unanimously passed a package of bills to limit civil asset forfeiture and require more disclosure from police when property is seized.
The Mackinac Center has worked on the issue of civil asset forfeiture for years, and recently published a study with the ACLU of Michigan detailing its abuses.
As bills to reform civil asset forfeiture work through the Michigan Legislature, the Mackinac Center has voiced strong support, both for the reforms, and for going further by eliminating of forfeiture altogether.
Jarrett Skorup, a policy analyst at the Mackinac Center and author of the study "Civil Forfeiture," co-authored an op-ed with Jorge Marin of Americans for Tax Reform on the benefits of civil forfeiture reform and what the political right should support major changes. That op-ed was recently published in MLive:
Civil asset forfeiture, the process of law enforcement confiscating private property without charging its owner with a crime, is running rampant in Michigan today. Current law provides little in the way of oversight for or limits on its use, but a package of bills awaiting a vote in the Senate would provide transparency and some limits on its use.
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 4193, Allow electronic "proof of insurance" for drivers: Passed 37 to 0 in the Senate
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 4166, Require voter approval of county promotions tax: 35 to 2 in the Senate
Gary Wolfram, an economics professor at Hillsdale College and member of the Mackinac Center’s Board of Scholars, has just released a new report on Michigan’s electricity industry. The study was published by the Michigan Conservative Energy Forum and provides an overview of the history and current organization of this important industry.
The state is looking to improve its transparency and is targeting its economic development reports, according to MIRS, a Lansing-insider newsletter.
The state received suboptimal ratings from the Public Interest Research Group and is seeking to improve its position. It is good that the administration is looking to make these programs more transparent. Under current policies, private companies will receive roughly $800 million in subsidies in the upcoming fiscal year, and taxpayers will not be allowed to know which companies are receiving their money.
The Mackinac Center is one of several groups hoping to save the state millions and increase the freedom of Michiganders by implementing common sense criminal justice reforms.
Focusing on the problem of overcriminalization (Michigan has over 3,100 crimes on the books), the Mackinac Center has pushed for reforms that would cut the number of crimes and limit the liability of people who unknowingly break them. Executive Vice President Mike Reitz recently discussed the recommendations on a panel in Lansing, covered by MLive:
Civil asset forfeiture — the process of law enforcement confiscating money or possessions from civilians without charging them with a crime — has become an enormous problem in Michigan. The Institute for Justice has ranked Michigan's civil asset forfeiture laws among the worst in the country, but a package of bills in the legislature could help fix them.
“This is just a modernization of Michigan's FOIA Act — long overdue — to provide some additional standardization and transparency.” – State Sen. Mike Shirkey
Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act, passed in 1976 in the wake of the Watergate scandal, is meant to improve public access to government documents.
VoteSpotter, an app created by the Mackinac Center, is making it easier for voters to hold their representatives accountable every day. Project Director Andrew Koehlinger recently joined Frank Beckmann to discuss the app's capabilities and growth. A recording of that discussion is available here.
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!
Senate Bill 306, Authorize joining Balanced Budget Compact: Passed 26 to 11 in the Senate
Editor's Note: the following is a transcript of testimony on House Bill 4713 given by Mackinac Center Executive Vice President Michael Reitz before the House Oversight and Ethics Committee on Sept. 17, 2015. Video of his testimony is available via House TV; Reitz's testimony begins at 18:00.
For years, the Michigan Education Association has held that members may only resign from the union in August, a policy commonly known as the August Window. The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation has fought against this policy, arguing that it violates the rights of union members.
The UAW contract with Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler expired on Sept. 14, giving employees in Michigan their first opportunity to resign from the union since the passage of right-to-work in 2012.
Mackinac Center Director of Labor Policy F. Vincent Vernuccio and Terry Bowman, an employee of Ford and founder of Union Conservatives, authored an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal Sept. 16, examining reasons why workers might choose to leave the UAW and the future of the union in the coming years:
By Kahryn Riley
Michigan statutes contain an estimated 3,102 crimes. That number far outstrips that of our neighboring states, as well as that recommended by the Model Penal Code, a seminal resource developed by the American Law Institute to help states codify American criminal law. The quantity and complexity of crimes on our books is so great that a reasonable citizen could not hope to understand most of them, let alone be accountable for knowing and complying with all of them. However, Michigan legislators are taking important steps towards ensuring that our criminal law functions in a sensible and predictable manner.
The Washington Examiner recently published an article discussing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's labor credentials and plans for moving forward on labor policy as a presidential candidate. Gov. Walker has a history of sweeping reforms in his home state, which are now prompting discussion on a national level.
Opponents of right-to-work policies often point to flawed research to make claims of decreased wages and employment in states with forced unionization.
In a Sept. 15 Editor's Note in The Detroit News, Ingrid Jacques pointed to a critique of some of those claims, backing up national findings with research from the Mackinac Center:
The “Economic Freedom of the World Index” published by the Fraser Institute of Canada measures the degree to which the world’s 157 nations and territories permit voluntary, peaceful economic exchanges between their own citizens and with people in other countries. The most recent index has just been released, and based on data from 2013, it ranks the United States 16th in economic freedom.
