By Ken Winter (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) PETOSKEY – I won’t be one of the 1,500 or so of Michigan’s top businessmen, politicians and other leaders converging for three days this week on Mackinac Island for the Mackinac Policy Conference. I cancelled my plans to attend so I could substitute for a local […]
Bridge Staff
Bridge’s mission is to inform Michigan citizens about their state, amplify their views and explore the challenges of our civic life.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: Time to lay down arms – and save money – in marijuana fight
By Rep. Jeff Irwin MAKING PEACE WITH MARY JANE: Marijuana, whether used medicinally or recreationally, is here to stay, writes Jeff Irwin. (Courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) The time has come for a more sensible approach to marijuana in Michigan. From a practical perspective, we know that marijuana prohibition is a failure. Michigan state […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: New revenue-sharing model shortchanges and infuriates municipalities
By David Lossing/Michigan Municipal League The Economic Vitality Incentive Program, a.k.a. EVIP, has been around for a couple of years now. EVIP is a program created by the state in 2011 to eliminate statutory revenue sharing and replace it with an “incentive” based program with only two-thirds of the previous funding. Under the program, local […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Bridge and Detroit Free Press partner for 'A Better Michigan'
By Stephen Henderson/Detroit Free Press Editorial Page Editor When Michigan voters said “no way” to fixing Michigan’s awful and unfair school finance structure in 1993, no one I knew was more crushed than legendary Free Press Editorial Page Editor Joe Stroud. For months, he led a passionate campaign for reform, in the face of both […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: Keep world-class standards for Michigan learners
By Doug Rothwell/Business Leaders for Michigan Business Leaders for Michigan supports continued use of the Common Core State Standards in Michigan, writes Doug Rothwell. (courtesy image/used under Creative Commons license) This year, Michigan public schools began using the kind of high-quality content standards that our kids need to be competitive in the 21st century. Used […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Best, worst of Michigan communities’ fiscal ratings
(courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) David Hollister knows a bit about how public budgets work. He served as mayor of Lansing for a decade. Before that, he served two decades in the Michigan House, representing Lansing. And he says, “We need to recalculate how urban centers are funded.” A Munetrix review of data from […]
Posted inBrunch with Bridge
Look! Up in the sky!
It’s that time of year again when you see folks wandering around in the woods or in fields, or even parked haphazardly along the road, staring up at the sky. Serious birders know that Michigan is a treasure trove of avian species, especially during spring migration. For a couple of bucks, you can install a feeder or […]
Posted inMichigan Government
See how your hometown’s checkbook is holding up
Nearly a decade ago, as Michigan struggled through a massive recession, the state Department of Treasury began to look at how the tough times were affecting the bottom lines in city and village halls across the state. These fiscal scores and Treasury’s “fiscal watch list” quickly became a source of controversy as local leaders contested […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: Survey finds hostile political rhetoric erodes trust in government
By Tom Ivacko/Center for Local, State and Urban Policy Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson uses a comb to make a comparison between House Speaker Jase Bolger and Adolph Hitler during a recent taping of WKAR’s “Off the Record” program. Tom Ivacko argues that a Michigan survey shows that hostile political rhetoric damages trust in government. […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest commentary: In Detroit, put the value of early learning to work for all children
By Katherine Foran/Excellent Schools Detroit (courtesy photo/Excellent Schools Detroit) “We are consumed by issues of remediation,” Dan Varner, CEO of Excellent Schools Detroit, observed. We struggle with costly “fixes,” targeting academic failure, high dropout rates, unemployment, low wages, higher substance abuse and incarceration rates, poorer health outcomes and diminished opportunities that too often spill over […]