Republicans say Gretchen Whitmer would push the same tax and economic policies as Michigan’s last Democratic governor, Jennifer Granholm. The record is more complicated.
Jennifer Granholm
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan has nation’s weakest regulations on septic systems
A WORLD OF …: This riding lawnmower was swallowed by a pit created by a failed septic system in Midland County. The state estimates that 10 percent of septic systems in Michigan – more than 130,000 – have failed. (courtesy photo/xxxx) In 2004, former Gov. Jennifer Granholm unveiled a water protection plan that called for […]
Posted inBrunch with Bridge
In Michigan, small things add up to life writ large
NOT THE GOAL: The teeming sidewalks and streets of New York and other major coastal cities may draw young people from Michigan now, but the state can reverse the trend if it shows its young people that pursuit of no limits is no path to freedom, writes Conor Dugan. (courtesy photo/used under Creative Commons license) […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Handshake deal with state haunts Detroit
DEAL BREAKER: Fifteen years ago, the state and Detroit agreed on a funding scheme – a deal that Detroiters say the state soon broke, helping propel the city into its current fiscal crisis. That agreement has been a point of contention between Detroit mayors (Dennis Archer, Kwame Kilpatrick, Dave Bing) and Michigan governors (John Engler, […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Is shortage due to skills or wages?
Steve Lowe Jr. is scrambling to find more than a dozen skilled machinists, experienced engineers and laborers after his company recently won a multimillion-dollar contract to build giant camshafts for diesel locomotive engines. He said he’s sought out state work force agencies, local community colleges and employment agencies in seeking the workers he needs to […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
In Northern Michigan, a life made in glass
Jay Bavers and Glenna Haney labor in a small studio in the Northern Michigan community of East Jordan. But their blown-glass creations have garnered fans from Lansing to Siberia. Jordan Valley Glassworks, which Bavers and Haney co-own, is a business built on the desire to present the new or unique, but also to satisfy the […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Governors run after companies, waving dollars
Governors can’t resist using their economic development agencies to try to pick business winners and losers in the economy, even when they say they are opposed to doing so. Gov. James Blanchard bankrolled efforts to grow biotechnology and advanced manufacturing industries in the state, with mixed results. His successor, Gov. John Engler, heavily invested in […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Filmmakers still seeing stars after incentive cut
Once upon a time, Michael Jones had a career in Michigan. He was a location manager for print and TV advertising, finding, securing and running the spaces where commercial shoots set up temporary shop. Then things got very bad, when the auto industry collapsed, throwing its ancillary industries into chaos. But then, things got very, […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Were film tax incentives too good to last?
No one knows yet what the final economic impact will be when the film once known as “Category 6” and now called Untitled Tornado Project wraps production at Michigan Motion Picture Studios some time down the road, but Michigan taxpayers will be paying, one way or another. The studio, which was built as Raleigh Michigan […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
On tax tactics, Snyder picks 'all of the above'
During his campaign for governor in 2010, Gov. Rick Snyder said he would focus on tax cuts and end tax incentives in trying to attract jobs and business investment to Michigan. Snyder and the Republican-controlled Legislature delivered on the tax cuts, trimming business taxes by $1.7 billion. But although he ended former Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s […]