LITTLE HELP?: Michigan’s effort to deal with leaking underground fuel tanks such as this one have been hamstrung by the diversion of more than $200 million in state money that was collected to address the problem. In the wake of a critical state audit, policy-makers are pledging reforms to the program to accelerate the cleanup […]
Michigan Government
Citizens cannot do their job of running their government if they don’t know what their public servants are doing.
Posted inMichigan Government
West Michigan veteran challenged by neuron disease, VA bureaucracy that’s supposed to help him
FRUSTRATED BY DELAYS: Joel Smith shows some of the paperwork he has collected while trying to get assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs for medical conditions he links to his service overseas. (Bridge photo/Lance Wynn) ADA – Joel Smith’s tangle with the VA bureaucracy is the stuff of which nightmares are made. A retired […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Delays plague veteran benefit requests around the country
MAPPING THE PROBLEM: This map by the Center for Investigative Reporting details the magnitude of delays in various Department of Veterans Affairs processing offices around the country. For full details, go to http://cironline.org/reports/map-where-veterans-backlog-worst-3792. Under fire for its growing backlog of disability benefits claims, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs last July set itself a goal: […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Uninsured watch anxiously as Medicaid debate rolls on
HEALTH GAMBLE: Greg Hunt has diabetes, Addison’s Disease, a thyroid condition – and no health insurance. The Kent County man works and goes to school, but he has had to defer purchase of a prescription due to cost and has had major health bills that have gone unpaid. Advocates say Medicaid expansion in Michigan would […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan gets high marks for private management of Medicaid
While Medicaid is a public health program jointly funded by the federal and state governments, it has been largely managed by private health firms since the late 1990s in Michigan. (courtesy image/state of Michigan) About 30 years after Congress authorized Medicaid, then-Gov. John Engler launched reforms that would change the face of its coverage in […]
Posted inMichigan Government
In charity poker vs. regulators, who's holding the cards?
RUN OF THE CARDS: In the last decade, public poker games have proliferated across Michigan as a quirk in the state’s bingo law allows such gambling in support of charitable groups. As play, and revenue, has grown, casinos have cried foul, arguing that these “millionaire party games” are poorly regulated and vulnerable to criminal activity. […]
Posted inMichigan Government
An ordinary bar on an ordinary night, but poker supplies the drama
Temporarily minus the long hair and beard that gave him his nickname, Scott “Caveman” Miller is a frequent visitor to “charity” poker rooms in Southeast Michigan. (Bridge photo/Lon Horwedel) Thursday night at the Electric Slick, and the poker tournament does not really have 100 percent of the Caveman’s interest. The NFL draft is playing on […]
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 inMichigan Government
Kalamazoo, Muskegon make tough calls, rise in fiscal ratings
Muskegon has made major cuts in public spending in recent years. And the city’s fiscal stress score looks much better in a recent analysis by Munetrix. (Bridge archive photo) A gritty, blue-collar city on Lake Michigan, Muskegon faces headwinds similar to many Michigan communities: factory closings, job losses, an eroding tax base. But in the […]