I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and businessman Rick Snyder, the Democratic and Republican candidates for governor respectively, both seem to be offering up only vague and platitudinous answers on how they would fix the clearly broken budget process in the state of Michigan. The Detroit News reports on some of those answers.
Bernero promises to “build relationships first” and “reach across the aisle.” Snyder pledges to “be completely engaged in this process” and to “work at building relationships with legislators from both parties.” I can’t remember a politician that didn’t promise those things, or wouldn’t say that they’ve already done those things, no matter what the reality.
Bernero did say he would play more hardball than other governors have and use his authority to order the legislature into special session if necessary, but that really hasn’t been the issue in the past. The legislature has been in session at the necessary times, but they haven’t fixed the state’s systemic budget problems.
Snyder favors going to a two-year budget, but the state already has to make budget cuts on a yearly basis due to inaccuracies in projected tax revenue and the balanced budget requirement. Projecting revenues two years out is even more dicey than projecting one year out, which likely means major budget adjustments every year — and all the same old fights that go with them.
What neither candidate has done is offer a detailed, specific proposal for structural tax reform that will put the state on a sure revenue footing.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
Sign up for our email newsletter