Elected leaders, judges and law enforcement want to learn more about the state’s crowded jails in an era of lower crime rates, in hopes of crafting new laws to reduce the inmate population, cut costs and right wrongs.
Lindsay VanHulle
Lindsay VanHulle is a former reporter for Bridge Magazine
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan doesn’t track school security – or fund safety office it created
Most Michigan schools visited take active shooter security seriously. Just don’t ask the state what each school is doing – it doesn’t keep track. And the Office of School Safety the Legislature created? It remains unfunded.
Posted inMichigan Government
A deal to fix Michigan’s roads looks to roll into summer, at least
The ball is in the Republican Legislature’s court when it comes to presenting an alternative to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s $2.5 billion road-funding plan. Will private negotiations produce a compromise both sides can sell?
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan minimum wage, paid sick leave case to get Supreme Court review
The state’s high court will hear arguments in July on whether the Legislature followed the rules when it watered down the impact of citizen-drafted legislation to raise Michigan’s minimum wage and require employers to offer paid sick leave. But the court stopped short of saying it will issue an opinion.
Posted inMichigan Government
Whitmer’s road funding plan could pit Michigan cities against rural areas
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has proposed making roads with the heaviest traffic a priority for more than $2 billion in new funding. That’s not going over well in rural Michigan.
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan plows on with Medicaid work rules as law is struck down in two states
A federal judge stopped work requirements in Arkansas and Kentucky, ruling the federal government did not fully consider harm to patients. Michigan’s law, which is similar, does not yet face a court challenge.
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan minimum wage, sick leave laws to start Friday under legal cloud
Attorney General Dana Nessel and the state Supreme Court may yet weigh in on whether the Legislature violated the Michigan constitution in passing, then gutting, these laws during lame duck. The controversy may end in court.
Posted inMichigan Government
Whitmer’s plan to raise business tax a hard sell to Michigan Legislature
The Democratic governor says the increase will likely be offset by tax relief elsewhere. Critics say that’s unlikely and warn that higher taxes will reverse gains Republicans attribute to business-friendly reforms from 2011.
Posted inMichigan Government
Study: More Michiganders struggle to afford basic needs
A new study of the working poor in Michigan, from the Michigan Association of United Ways, suggests that more people, particularly seniors, are finding it difficult to afford necessities such as housing, child care and transportation.
Posted inMichigan Government
Proposed repeal of Michigan ‘pension tax’ prompts fairness debate
Supporters of repealing a 2011 tax on some retirement income say seniors were asked to shoulder more of the state’s income tax burden to offset a business tax break. Advocates for keeping the tax say it treats all retirement income equally.