Gov. Rick Snyder formally called for an additional $130 million for state preschool classes Thursday, a move long hinted at by administration officials – and long sought by advocates for early childhood education. “One of the things I’m most excited about (in the budget) is we are making a large investment in early childhood funding,” […]
Snyder ‘excited’ to double preschool spending; predicts ‘dramatic’ impact
Posted inBusiness Watch
Road repair enjoys bipartisan support
On Michigan’s Right to Work law, labor activist Mark Schauer and business advocate Rich Studley could not have sought more different results. But when it comes to working on Michigan’s crumbling roads — an issue that’s arisen in Lansing nearly as frequently as winter potholes — the two have an identical goal. Schauer, a former […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
What does an additional penny of gas tax buy?
For each penny of gas or diesel tax, Michigan gets about $45 million for transportation funding needs that include roads. There are lots of road cost variables, but that $45 million might buy, for example, 23 more lane miles of reconstructed roads or 75 additional lane miles of repaired roads. Or, it could enable the […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan's current fuel taxes place it in the national top 10
Michigan last raised its fuel taxes in 1997, moving it from 15 cents to 19 cents (technically 18.715) for gasoline. In the interim, the buying power of those 19 cents — for asphalt, steel and the other elements of road construction and repair — has eroded. The nonpartisan Citizens Research Council noted in a 2011 […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Inflation takes bite out of road repairs
Michigan citizens know the pocketbook pressures of rising prices for such everyday items as bread, milk and even the occasional beer. But less evident are the increased costs of the materials needed to build and repair the roads on which they drive. That means that the pennies of tax placed on each gallon of Michigan […]
Posted inLand O Links
Land O Links
* The Capitol news service MIRS is paywall protected, but I wanted to share some basic data it collected on salaries for top political appointees in Michigan. “Salaries of the department directors as of Jan. 10, 2013: – John Nixon, Department of Technology, Management and Budget: $250,000 – Mike Flanagan, Department of Education: $189,515 – Andy Dillon, […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Who's to blame for Michigan's road woes?
There is no shortage of fancy electronic charts, graphs and statistics to document the crumbling state of Michigan’s streets and highways. Grand Rapids auto repair shop owner Jay Ziomkowski, though, charts it by the customers who walk through his door. He recalled a recent winter, when “the roads were just horrific. Certain sections were like […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
In West Michigan, evidence mounts of statewide road crisis
A few weeks ago, Grand Rapids TV station WZZM posted a request on its Facebook page: Tell us about about the worst roads in West Michigan. Comments poured in. An Ottawa County resident described James Street, a road near Holland, as “horrible, has been for a long time. Not only filled with potholes but way […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Bad roads throw up barriers to farmers, auto firms, tourists
Better than most, Cass County resident Cliff Poehlman understands how bad roads raise the cost of doing business. Poehlman farms about 2,000 acres of corn, wheat and alfalfa in southwestern Michigan. He is also a 22-year veteran of the Cass County Road Commission. In recent years, Poehlman said, the commission has been forced to issue […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Michigan politicians starve the engines of economic growth: universities
While we consider Gov. Rick Snyder’s budget message – to be delivered Thursday — we might want to look at some facts underlying our economy. The (persistently) bad news: Since 2008, Michigan has slashed state support for public colleges and universities by 21.5 percent. The (sort-of) good news: We rank only 11th among states in […]