Michele Glinn loved her job, and she was good at it. As the only Ph.D toxicologist working in the Michigan State Police toxicology unit, she analyzed blood samples for alcohol and other drugs — and crisscrossed the state testifying in court. Frustrated by unpaid furlough days, a shrinking staff and a negative public perception of […]
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
An 'eye-opening experience'
As readers of Bridge Magazine today may know, the last Ph.D toxicologist working for the Michigan State Police resigned in November, leaving the state with no one who can offer expert testimony interpreting the results of alcohol and drug tests. That’s bad news for the state, but it could be good news for Rep. Bob […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Guest post: Mich.'s campaign disclosure rules stink
By Rich Robinson/Michigan Campaign Finance Network It was welcome news when Gov. Rick Snyder announced, during his 2012 State of the State address, that he believes Michigan needs campaign finance, lobbying and ethics reforms. It has been a long time since a Michigan governor has expressed serious interest in this important area of government accountability. […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Big township bank accounts draw concern, defense
We all know Michigan’s local governments have been struggling because of a plunge in tax revenues caused by the Great Recession and the housing collapse, not to mention shrinking state revenue-sharing payments. Or do we? A controversial new study by Isabella County Administrator Tim Dolehanty claims there is, in fact, an “embarrassment of riches” at […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Behind savings, townships operate in vastly different ways
Michigan’s 1,240 townships are as diverse as the state that spawned them – some little more than a rural framework for delivering the most basic services, others quasi-cities, with ambition to match. Because of their unique fiscal management, townships frequently carry fund balances – assets and cash on hand – well in excess of expenditures. […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Deja vu: Biz tax cuts head agenda in Lansing
“At the end of the day, we’ll be a stronger, more vibrant state,” Gov. Rick Snyder asserted a year ago in his first State of the State speech that offered the first outlines of his 2011 legislative agenda. But he didn’t say what day that would be. As he prepares to deliver his second “SOS” […]
Posted inMichigan Government
County official 'recycles' Emmet Co. culture
Elisa Seltzer figured she’d serve five years as Emmet County’s director of public works — just long enough to get a recycling program up and running. That was 21 years ago. Seltzer has created a self-supporting recycling program that includes 13 drop sites, curbside collection for 60 percent of Emmet Countyand more than 250 businesses, and […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Budget numbers improve; does it matter?
On Friday, the financial experts in the legislative fiscal agencies and the Department of Treasury will meet to agree on a new snapshot of Michigan’s economic and fiscal situation — and the trend lines for the near future. Based on these early House and Senate releases, the news should be quite positive — if you […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Parting gift for college grads: $25k in debt
Clark Eagling has $45,000 in student loans — and he’s the lucky one in the family. His wife, Aimee Kessel, owes $90,000 for her undergraduate and graduate college education. The debt is so large that the couple may be collecting Social Security before they finish paying for college. “We’ve both essentially said that we don’t […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Legislator: Taxpayers get bad deal from universities
State Rep. Bob Genetski doesn’t have many fans at Michigan’s public universities. As chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education, Genetski, R-Saugatuck, has been an outspoken critic of how universities spend money — and a leader in the movement to reform the state’s higher education funding formula. A Bridge analysis found that Michigan […]