Michigan Government

Even as Michigan's economy grows, cities struggle against tax limits that a study concludes help choke their recovery.

Voters back bipartisan efforts to lower Michigan’s prison population, in part by helping prisoners get job training so they can support themselves and are less likely to return to prison.

A bill being introduced in Lansing would wipe criminal records for those nonviolent offenders who stay out of trouble, making it easier for them to get jobs.

A measure that would make it easier for inmates to gain earlier release could be the first of several bills to reduce the state’s prison population.

Watchdog groups accuse MDOT of relying on outdated projections of traffic volume to justify expensive expansion projects. Federal courts have ruled in favor of such groups in other states.

With heroin and prescription drug abuse at historic levels, lawmakers are pushing for wider access to naloxone, a life-saving antidote, for some drug abusers.

Overdose deaths as the result of heroin or other opioid addictions have quadrupled in recent years across Michigan, often primed by abuse of prescribed painkillers.

The insurance industry cites schemes involving morally flexible lawyers and overactive doctors as reason to curb Michigan’s no-fault law. Critics say Lansing’s “reform” legislation would hurt the most seriously injured.

Reform advocates agree that Michigan could save millions by reducing its prison population, a cost that has risen seven-fold over three decades. But with politics never far from the surface, can policymakers agree on who doesn’t belong?

An unexpected coalition of conservatives and progressives is forming around finding ways to reduce Michigan’s costly prison population