Monthly Archive for Michigan
Michigan Stories Posted in September 2008
Ballot measures the Mackinac Center would support
Category: Government Accountablilty · State: Michigan · Source: Detroit Free Press
The Michigan Supreme Court ruling that keeps the Reform Michigan Government Now proposal off the ballot has focused attention on the ballot measure process itself. RMGN — rejected by the court for technical reasons — was extraordinarily bad public policy, but that doesn’t mean citizen-led initiatives are bad. The right ballot measures would let voters bypass legislators who are unwilling or unable to fix Michigan’s urgent problems. Here are eight ballot measures that would each offer voters a single, honest, straightforward opportunity to fix the fundamentals. A Right-to-Work Measure. A right-to-work law means that employers cannot agree to fire a worker for not supporting a union. While unions would retain their monopoly bargaining status, right-to-work protection would be a sure step toward workplace fairness and state economic recovery. From 2002 to 2007, Michigan lost 5% of its jobs while the 22 right-to-work states increased their payrolls by 9%. State Spending Limitation. Allow state spending to increase, but only in proportion to growth in population and inflation. If a version of this plan had been in effect, it would have returned about $8 billion to Michigan taxpayers between 1995-2007 and built a $2.5 billion rainy day fund. Universal Education Tax Credit. This option would leave intact the constitutional prohibition on vouchers while allowing parents to choose the safest and best public or private schools for their children. The tax credit would be available for income earners, property owners and businesses that support the education of a child attending the school of his or her choice. The credit would be limited to half of the state’s per-pupil spending allotment, which we estimated would have saved the state’s School Aid Fund more than $500 million in the 10 years prior to 2008.
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