Calculating tuition at Grand Valley State University begins the same way every year. School officials estimate staff costs and utilities. They have a good idea how many students they’ll enroll. But the rest of the equation is dependent upon a variable beyond the university’s control or analysis: appropriations decisions made by state legislators. Last year, […]
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
Redistricting poll is no triumph
Michiganvoters want a nonpartisan commission to take charge of drawing election lines in the state — a job now tightly in the grip of the Legislature. That’s the message the Michigan Redistricting Collaborative is trumpeting from a new poll it commissioned of statewide voters. (Note: The Center for Michigan, Bridge Magazine’s parent, is a member […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Guest column: Communities should find tax-spend 'niche'
By Mark Skidmore/Michigan State University Consumers instinctively look for bargains — quality products at a good price. We purchase the items that offer the right combination of price and quality we desire. This principle also hold true when we look for a place to live. Potential residents “shop” for the right mix of quality and […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Chronicle publisher stood for right things
News that Michigan Chronicle Publisher Sam Logan Jr. had passed away was a real shock to everybody who knew him. Sam was so energetic, so engaged, so filled with ideas and plans that no one ever thought he might leave us at such a premature time. He was a towering icon, not only to the African-American […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Snyder puts end to 'moderate' tag
Gongwer just reported that Gov. Rick Snyder has signed the legislation that bars local governments from making their own decisions on whether to offer benefits to adult partners of their employees. (No link; Gongwer is paywall protected.) He did this even though he said he didn’t want the bill to apply to universities and some […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Measuring the mood in 2012
During one of the busy points of a debate over welfare benefits in Michigan, someone asked me, “What do I get out of my taxes going to this? What’s the ROI (return on investment) for welfare?” I replied, “You don’t have to install bars over the windows of your house.” That’s far too flippant to […]
Posted inMichigan Government
How to get a government's attention
A blog that focuses on doings in the city of Troy has published what appears, to my eye, to be a bombshell of a note from a major Troy employer to city officials. Keeptroystrong presents the memo as coming from Frank Ervin III, the government affairs manager for Magna International. The memo apparently is in […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Guest column: Voting reform boosts access, security
By Ruth Johnson/Michigan secretary of state Critics and pundits (“Right to vote is under attack,” Dec. 15) would have you think that any move to review and make common sense adjustments to our current elections system is a veiled attempt at destroying our democratic process. The fact is that ensuring integrity in our elections system […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Merger bills won't change names on fire trucks — yet
For years, officials charged with managing local government services and finances have pointed to a variety of provisions in state law they say make the sharing of services with neighbors financially unappealing. With Gov. Rick Snyder’s signature last week on a set of bills, the state believes it has removed a large hurdle to increased […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Keep your views to yourself
From this round-up at slate.com about various redistricting reform efforts around the nation: “As for the various state contests that invite average citizens to submit their own plans, they’ve proven to be mostly for show. No state has yet adopted an outsider’s plan, even though many have been objectively superior to the real maps on […]