MIDLAND, Mich. — Defending worker freedom, creating a sound business climate and expanding government transparency at all levels are just a few of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s priorities for 2023. The Center’s recommendations for policymakers may provide some counterpoints to the agenda Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will outline tonight in her “State of the State” address. Mackinac Center experts will be available for comment following the governor’s speech.

If lawmakers want to create an attractive business climate, they should rule out tax hikes and corporate handouts. Select business subsidies may make for flashy headlines, but they are bad fiscal policy. Corporate handouts do not grow the economy and are unfair to the thousands of businesses that do not receive them.

Lawmakers should focus on sustainability when it comes to the state budget. Increases in state spending should be tied to and restricted by population growth and inflation rates.

A strong business climate requires removing needless barriers for people wishing to enter the workforce. About 20% of workers in Michigan are required to get a state license to work legally. Reducing occupational licensing burdens, requiring licensing reciprocity with other states and expanding scope of practice for health care professionals are simple steps to help grow the state’s workforce.

Workers should also be allowed to work without being forced to pay a union. Lawmakers should defend pro-worker policies such as right-to-work, prevailing wage and transparency in collective bargaining agreements.

Families and businesses are dealing with the consequences of the decision by the state’s monopoly utilities to transition to less reliable power sources. Lawmakers should prioritize policies that ensure residents have access to reliable and affordable energy.

Other policy recommendations include:

• Expand education and workforce training in prisons.
• Create meaningful school accountability.
• Reduce overcriminalization and recidivism rates.
• Maintain the sustainability of Michigan’s Medicaid program.
• Keep Line 5 open and support a tunnel to protect it.

“Tonight, Gov. Whitmer will set out her administration’s priorities for the year,” said David Guenthner, vice president for government affairs at the Mackinac Center. “She’s already indicated that repealing the state’s successful right-to-work law won’t be in her speech, and Michigan businesses and workers can only hope that it stays out of her agenda entirely. Better uses of her administration’s time and political capital would be to finally fix the open records law and to improve Michigan’s overall business climate, instead of trying to buy jobs with company-specific subsidies.”

Read the full list of policy recommendations here.