Author

Julie Cassidy

Julie Cassidy

Julie Cassidy is the Michigan League for Public Policy's senior policy analyst. Before that, she spent 14 years working as a legislative analyst for the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency, where she specialized in health, energy and environmental issues.

COMMENTARY

Column: Everyone has a role in ending homelessness

By: - November 17, 2023

November has arrived again, and that means it’s Homelessness Awareness Month. It’s most important to be aware that it is possible to end homelessness, and that everyone has a role in our collective achievement of that goal. The primary cause of homelessness is a lack of affordable housing. In Michigan, the shortage of rental units […]

COMMENTARY

Column: Schools can support success for all students with new meal funding

By: - August 1, 2023

Our kids need proper nutrition to stay healthy and go to school ready to learn. In the recently signed Fiscal Year 2024 state budget, our Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have provided funding to enable schools to permanently offer free breakfast and lunch to every student in grades pre-K through 12.  Now, it’s incumbent upon […]

COMMENTARY

Column: Filter First legislation would ensure safe drinking water in schools, childcare centers

By: - May 25, 2023

It’s been almost a decade since the start of the Flint water crisis, and yet there is still no law in our state to ensure that the drinking water in our schools and childcare centers is safe for Michigan kids.  That could all change if the Filter First bills recently passed by the Senate (Senate […]

COMMENTARY

Column: Expanding affordable housing access will improve health and education outcomes for kids

By: - March 24, 2023

Our state has long failed children, particularly those from families with low incomes, when it comes to education.  According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count project, for the last two decades, Michigan has ranked near the bottom of the states in education, with the rate of fourth-graders not proficient in reading and eighth-graders […]

COMMENTARY

Column: There is hope in the fight against homelessness

By: - November 21, 2022

November is Homeless Awareness Month and this year’s theme, “Homeless, not hopeless”, reminds us that we have the collective power to ensure that all Michiganders, regardless of age, disability or race, have a safe place to live.  We’ve proven that during the COVID-19 pandemic as policymakers have made temporary policy changes and historic investments in […]

COMMENTARY

Column: To achieve justice, our fight against lead poisoning has to go beyond prevention

By: - June 20, 2022

The Michigan League for Public Policy was pleased to take part in the most recent annual Lead Education Day sponsored by the Michigan Alliance for Lead Safe Homes (MIALSH).  Advocates from across the state met with legislators to talk about the impact of lead on our families and communities and solutions that make all of […]

COMMENTARY

Column: Safe, accessible and affordable housing is not a ‘special’ need

By: - March 29, 2022

A significant challenge in social justice work is apathy from people who don’t see how they will personally benefit from the policies we promote. It can be easy for people who haven’t been directly harmed by existing policies to shrug off the resulting inequities. It can be hard for them to understand why their tax […]

COMMENTARY

Column: SNAP update will help fight hunger, especially in northern Michigan

By: - August 27, 2021

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) keeps 270,000 Michiganders, more than 40%of them children, out of poverty every year and helps ensure that families have enough to eat.  SNAP’s positive impact has been limited, however, by an outdated basis for calculating benefits. President Joe Biden’s administration recently announced steps to modernize the program and increase […]

COMMENTARY

Column: Michiganders need rent relief now

By: - September 11, 2020

It’s been six months since COVID-19 emerged in Michigan, and to say that a lot has happened since then would be an understatement.  More than 105,000 Michiganders have been diagnosed with coronavirus and more than 6,500 have lost their lives. Mass business closures and layoffs have affected every county in the state, making it even […]

COMMENTARY

Column: We’re all facing the threat of COVID-19, but we’re not all in the same boat

By: - May 8, 2020

A local Meals on Wheels program receiving 75 new requests for home-delivered meals every day. Suddenly unemployed workers hounded for repayment on payday loans. Local food banks scrambling to meet unprecedented need in their communities. A restaurant server scammed out of a rental deposit check by someone posing as an out-of-state landlord. Domestic violence survivors […]

COMMENTARY
President Donald Trump

Column: When it comes to federal regulations, your 2¢ are priceless

By: - January 27, 2020

Over the last three years, President Donald Trump’s administration has proposed a spate of harmful administrative rules in furtherance of his cruel agenda. As he faces reelection in November, we can expect the hits to keep coming.  Since these changes are being done administratively and without input or approval needed from Congress, the only real […]

COMMENTARY

Julie Cassidy: We must build the will to end homelessness in Michigan

By: - January 2, 2020

The most recent Ending Homelessness in Michigan annual report is out, and we cannot ignore the numbers as the state grapples with a housing affordability crisis. As we work to create an economy that ensures everyone has the safe home that we all need to thrive, we must learn from our successes in reducing homelessness […]