Business + Labor

Mandatory driver fee reduced next year after auto insurance law

BY: - November 13, 2019

Beginning next summer, Michigan drivers who continue to drive with unlimited personal injury protection (PIP) will pay a significantly reduced fee following drastic changes to the state’s auto insurance law.  The Michigan Catastrophic Claims Association (MCCA), a Livonia-based nonprofit organization that reimburses insurance companies for costs related to benefits, announced on Wednesday a 55% reduction […]

How positive language could improve public policy for struggling communities

BY: - November 13, 2019

Could focusing on a person’s or community’s attributions and aspirations instead of their struggles reverse systemic inequity? Some leaders in policy, media, the nonprofit sector and academia think so.  Trabian Shorters, CEO of BMe Community, spoke to a crowd of more than 300 people at a Michigan League for Public Policy (MLPP) conference in Lansing […]

Michigan Republicans want to quash Whitmer’s power. Here’s a roundup of GOP power grabs in other states.

BY: - November 12, 2019

Updated, 10:38 a.m. 11/13/19 The state budget remains somewhat paralyzed, as the main sticking point is Republicans demanding the Democratic governor surrender certain executive powers. That’s a familiar story — and not just in Michigan for the last year, but across the country in states like Wisconsin and North Carolina. In the last couple of […]

Bills you may have missed: SOS wait times, oil subsidies and horse-drawn carriage crackdowns 

BY: - November 8, 2019

Ahead of the Legislature’s rapidly approaching hunting break, here is this week’s Michigan Advance roundup of noteworthy recent legislation you may have missed. Regulating horse-drawn vehicles State Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R–Clarklake) and state Sens. Curtis VanderWall (R-Ludington) and Jim Stamas (R-Midland) have introduced Senate Bills 642-644 to place more regulations on horse-drawn carriages, […]

Tlaib wants hearings on opportunity zones after news report on Dan Gilbert

BY: - November 7, 2019

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) sent a letter Wednesday to the chairs of key House panels asking them to hold investigative hearings into opportunity zones created under the 2017 GOP federal tax law. The zones were meant to encourage new investments in poor areas by providing tax breaks to investors, but a ProPublica investigation last […]

Health study: 7,000 more Michigan children were uninsured in 2018

BY: - November 6, 2019

Michigan has seen a 10% jump in the number of children without health insurance between 2016 and 2018, a new Georgetown University report shows. The study released in October from the university’s Health Policy Institute Center for Children and families found that there’s been a spike of 400,000 more children lacking health insurance in the […]

Enbridge denies state’s report that it could evade oil spill cleanup costs

BY: - November 5, 2019

Canadian oil giant Enbridge has promised to fund almost $2 billion in cleanup costs in the event of a Line 5 pipeline rupture in the Great Lakes. According to a new state-commissioned report, however, that promise may not be legally enforceable. “In the event of a catastrophic oil spill, the people of the state of […]

Whitmer declares November Homeless Awareness Month

BY: - November 4, 2019

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued on Monday a proclamation declaring November as Homeless Awareness Month. “I am a proud life-long Michigander who is dedicated to making this state a great place to live for everyone. Right now, Michigan has far too many people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness” said Whitmer. “This is why […]

Gamble takes over as acting UAW president as Jones takes leave of absence

BY: - November 4, 2019

Amid ongoing scandal for the United Auto Workers, President Gary Jones has taken a leave of absence.  UAW Vice President Rory Gamble assumed the duties of acting president on Sunday, according to a statement from the union.  “The UAW is fighting tooth and nail to ensure our members have a brighter future,” Jones said in […]

COMMENTARY

Column: DeVos’ formula for success: Trash public schools and push privatization

BY: - November 4, 2019

When U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos discussed the results from the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress, she described them as “devastating” and part of a worsening crisis in education. The results showed a slight decline in reading scores and a flattening in math scores. She noted that two out of three of the […]

Opponents say ‘fake’ emotional support animal crackdown bills could violate federal housing law

BY: - November 2, 2019

Is it time to crack down on tenants who misrepresent their pets as emotional support animals? A state Senate panel heard testimony this week that was split on this question. The Senate Committee on Local Government met Thursday to consider Senate Bills 608-610, all introduced by Committee Chair Dale Zorn (R-Ida). During the meeting, Zorn […]

COMMENTARY

Rick Haglund: Fate of Pure Michigan ad campaign unclear

BY: - November 2, 2019

Mackinac Center for Public Policy economist Michael LaFaive for years called on policymakers to end the Pure Michigan tourism promotion campaign, considered among the best in the country. Despite a state-sponsored study that found Pure Michigan advertising influenced 2.1 million visitor trips to Michigan and more than $2.5 billion in spending last year, LaFaive said […]