The roles Sharon Matthews has fielded so far are hardly the stuff of cakewalks: high school dropout; single mom; gunshot victim. But her toughest role yet begins next month: Guinea pig. The 41-year-old Detroit resident and her 15-year-old daughter are among the 11,000 Michigan families banned from welfare, as the state of Michigan begins to […]
Michigan Politics Watch
Nonpartisan reporting and fact checks on Michigan politics, elections, and public policy — what’s true, what matters, and what’s at stake.
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Posted inMichigan Politics Watch
Cuts don't fall evenly across Michigan
A welfare recipient in Flint is four times more likely to be kicked off cash assistance next month than a welfare recipient in bucolic Luce County — even though the Upper Peninsula county has a higher poverty rate. In rural northern Lake County, 36 percent of children lived below the poverty threshold, the highest rate […]
Posted inMichigan Politics Watch
What will they do?
More than 11,000 families will be banned from cash assistance next month, in the biggest one-day dumping of welfare recipients in the state’s – and possibly the nation’s – history. Will those families blend into the work force? Will they lose their homes? Will they find help from charities, churches and nonprofits? Over the next […]
Posted inMichigan Politics Watch
Rep to recipients: 'Man up' and feed family
State Rep. Ken Horn, R-Frankenmuth, tried for four years to reform Michigan’s welfare system for cash assistance. On his fifth try, bolstered by the solid Republican majorities in the House and Senate and a Republican governor brought in via the 2010 elections, Horn shepherded a massive reform effort into law. The keystone of that reform […]
Posted inMichigan Politics Watch
You want police and trash service, right?
The news remains grim on the financial front for Michigan local governments. More survey data from local officials reported by the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy at U-M find Michigan’s city, township and village governments are still being battered by a confluence of negative trends: 1. Declining state aid due to political decisions […]
Posted inMichigan Politics Watch
DOC director targets prisoner work problem
Corrections Director Dan Heyns says the Michigan State Industries — the prison system’s work for inmates arm — is in need of change. (See this mlive.com summary of a report from Gongwer News Service.) The Center for Michigan reported on the continuing financial problems about MSI back in August. Among the findings from CFM: “Between […]
Posted inMichigan Politics Watch
Oh, horrors, a recall election
The jobless rate in Michigan is above 11 percent (it’s higher than that, but the official rate is 11.2 percent). The Legislature and the Snyder administration have taken budget actions that are leading to cuts in employment in the public sector. The private sector, meanwhile, is caught with the rest of the nation in a […]
Posted inMichigan Politics Watch
Is reform of liquor rules already in trouble?
Gov. Rick Snyder and his team are eying Michigan’s antiquated liquor control regulations. The governor appointed an advisory panel to study streamlining regulations to make them more business-friendly. He appointed a new head of the Liquor Control Commission from the Michigan Restaurant Association — a business advocacy group. The pieces are moving into place for […]
Posted inMichigan Politics Watch
No grass-roots for govn't consolidation
Last week, I drew attention to a memo from Eric Scorsone regarding the potential cost savings from consolidating local governments and services. My takeaway from the memo was that consolidation is not the big kahuna if your goal is simply to save money. The issue is far too nuanced for one single policy change to […]
Posted inMichigan Politics Watch
How 15,000 lost a lottery they didn't even play
Did one man’s luck turn into a financial catastrophe for Michigan’s poor? Mention the name Leroy Fick in a room of social service agency directors, and the temperature drops. Heads shake. Shoulders slump. Curses are mumbled. Fick won the lottery — and 15,000 people will lose their food assistance, as of Oct. 1. That’s the […]
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