By Mark Hornbeck/AARP AARP Michigan opposes bills (Senate Bills 751 and 754) moving through the Legislature that will make it more difficult for many state residents to register to vote and to participate in elections. Michigan already meets federal election standards. States should not impose unreasonable identification requirements that discourage or prevent citizens from voting. […]
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
Who are you? What have you done with Mitt?
Writing on his own blog, Bridge contributor Rick Haglund touches on one reason Mitt Romney may be polling so poorly in advance of the Feb. 28 GOP primary: Is Mitt Romney really George Romney’s son? he asks. Hmm. Ignore the obvious family resemblance, Haglund says. Look at what he says: Romney writes (in a Detroit […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Shifting prison politics: How GOP is getting smarter on crime
Prison reform — once considered a ticket out of office for politicians — is spreading around the country, and in some unlikely places. In many states, the efforts to reduce prison populations are being led by “law-and-order” Republicans. In 2011, half of the 26 states that passed prison reforms were led by Republican governors; in 10 of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
An unlikely advocate for review of Michigan prison sentences
Joe Haveman is about the last person in the State Capitol you’d expect to advocate for softer prison sentences. The 50-year-old Holland native is a conservative Republican legislator from a conservative Republican district, the kind of pedigree associated with the attitude of locking them up and throwing away the key. “We tried that,” Haveman noted. […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Cut prison spending, CFM tells Senate panel
My written testimony for a meeting today of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Corrections: “Good afternoon. Thank you Senator (John) Proos and fellow members of the committee for the opportunity to speak with you today. In 2008, the Center for Michigan organized a diverse group of business, nonprofit and public sector organizations all concerned with the […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Government dollars and rural Michigan
A small Michigan subplot to the New York Times’ story about how opposition to government benefits programs appears to spike in areas where government benefits are most prevalent. In 2010, Dan Benishek ran for — and won –Michigan’s 1st Congressional District, which then covered the U.P. and a good hunk of the northeastern quadrant of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Ah, so! Second thoughts for Hoekstra's star?
Before the furor over Pete Hoekstra’s “Debbie Spenditnow” ad dies down — the usual suspects having read their lines and otherwise played the parts they were assigned earlier in the week — take a moment to read this, a briefing on the Chinese-American actress whose role was right out of Central Casting, c. 1932. An […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Reactions to Snyder budget coming in
Reactions to Gov. Rick Snyder’s 2013 budget proposal are coming in. Below are some notable excerpts: State Board of Education President John Austin, D-Ann Arbor: “While Governor Snyder’s budget proposal begins to reverse decimating cuts to pre-K, K-12, and higher education; more strategic investment in education is needed to achieve the performance we are demanding […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Guest post: Speak out on SE Michigan roadways
By Paul Tait/Southeast Michigan Council of Governments Southeast Michigan residents have a unique opportunity to provide valuable guidance to elected leadership in Lansing and help shape how we will maintain and improve the transportation system – roads, bridges, and transit – in Southeast Michigan through a regional online survey sponsored by the Metropolitan Affairs Coalition […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Budget translated: Don't get excited
In line with expectations, the governor’s formal budget proposal for fiscal year 2013 (which begins Oct. 1) and budget outline for fiscal 2014 is a quiet document. “Quiet” in that it shouldn’t engender shouts of excitement or opposition from the various special interests that bid for state funding. Gov. Rick Snyder is pushing money into […]