Why is a conservative Republican Legislature enacting a pro-business agenda that breaks the mold by embracing Right to Work laws? Because the GOP has the votes in the House and Senate to put it on Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk for his signature. Control all three legs of the stool and you can craft law on […]
Legislature
Posted inMichigan Government
Mining tax could spur more U.P. mining
State lawmakers and Gov. Rick Snyder are poised to approve a new tax structure on metallic mining operations that could spur development of new mines — like the controversial Eagle Mine near Marquette — across the western Upper Peninsula. The state House of Representatives, on Nov. 29, approved legislation authorizing a 2.75 percent severance tax […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Guest column: Choice proposal bets on market forces
By Brendan Walsh The Oxford Foundation’s proposal on school choice made landfall last week full of sound and fury – and igniting a bit more. But what does it truly signify? It delivers “student choice” in spades and that has the education reform movement rejoicing. Reaction from the incumbent establishment was predictable. “The deeply flawed […]
Posted inPeter Luke: Eye on the Capitol
Voters endorse a ‘simmer down’ approach to state’s challenges
By a 47-41 margin, respondents in Marketing Resource Group’s fall poll said Michigan was on the right track. The plus 6-point spread in the biannual survey was the largest recorded by the Lansing firm since March 2003, three months into Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s first term. Three months into Gov. Rick Snyder’s term in March 2010, […]
Posted inGuest Commentary
Final arguments on Proposal 5
Proposal 5 is a constitutional amendment to require supermajorities of members of each legislative chamber to approve state tax increases or seek approval from the voters. Tax increases would require the votes of at least 25 members of the 38-member Senate and 73 members of the 110-member House of Representatives. If a tax matter went to […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Millions at stake for schools as Senate considers teacher retirement change
David Campbell, superintendent of the Livingston Educational Service Agency, has been watching the debate over reform of the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System (MPSERS) for years from multiple perspectives, as a public school administrator charged with spending scarce resources, and as a future pensioner himself who will feel the effects of the reforms. All of […]
Posted inPhil's Column
Half the investment on colleges means a full measure of trouble for Michigan
To grow Michigan’s economy, we need more skilled workers, an estimated 1 million two- and four-year college graduates are needed to fill the job vacancies by 2025. Employers all over our state are complaining they can’t find workers with adequate skills to meet their job openings. The logic of increasing state support for higher education is […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Educators see violation of trust in pension proposal
When Kathy Kapera started working as a Michigan teacher in 1976, she made about $7,000 a year. Over the course of her career — most of it spent teaching hearing-impaired children in Royal Oak — she earned a master’s degree, and steadily accumulated seniority and experience that all led to the moment in 2010 when […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Is the state retreating from public education?
In coming weeks, the Michigan Legislature will finish work on Michigan’s fiscal 2013 budget — including funding out of the state’s School Aid Fund to local public schools. In today’s 42North debate, Glenn Nelson and Brit Satchwell of Ann Arbor argue that Gov. Rick Snyder’s 2013 (and 2014) budget plans continue a harmful policy of […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Fuel-tank cleanup leaves mess above ground, too
Michigan’s program for cleaning up leaking underground storage tank faces a major overhaul this year, one that could make cleanups simpler and less costly. But the planned changes, which are moving through the Legislature, won’t address one of the program’s biggest weaknesses: The program is grossly underfunded. Michigan spends $20 million annually cleaning up leaking […]
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