Michigan Politics & News
Michigan news from The Daily Signal, tracking state politics, union influence, election integrity battles, and policy debates shaping the Great Lakes State and Midwest region.
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opinion
Here Are 7 Ways Free Trade Has Helped Michigan
In 2010, the Michigan economy was on the rocks—715,000 people were out of work, and the Great Lakes State’s gross domestic product had contracted by 7.6 percent by the time the recession ended. Today, Michigan is the comeback state, and international trade plays a vital role in its growth. Here are seven facts about the… -
opinion
Don’t Bring Empty Bottles Into Michigan, You Might Go to Jail
Founding Father James Madison wrote in the Federalist Papers that “It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.” The phenomenon of overcriminalization puts all… -
news
Michigan Lawmaker: Parents Have a Right to Know What Bathroom Their Child Is Using at School
A Michigan state lawmaker introduced legislation to help protect parental rights, especially when it comes to knowing if their child is using the boys’ or girls’ restroom at school and who has access to that restroom. The departments of Education and Justice issued a joint transgender student directive to schools across the country in May,… -
opinion
University of Michigan Students Call for Police to Censor Classmates’ Political Messages
The University of Michigan is one of our nation’s premier institutions of higher learning. Young people from all over the country move to Ann Arbor every year to obtain an education and to have their ideas challenged by exposure to fellow students from many walks of life. Or maybe not. Last Thursday afternoon, a number of… -
news
How Michigan and Ohio Made It Harder to Accidentally Break the Law
The Criminal Justice Committee was always an odd fit for Rep. Ed McBroom, a state lawmaker and dairy farmer representing a rural area of Michigan. During his last term on the committee, McBroom, a Republican, was schooled on a criminal justice topic he had never heard of before, but on this one, few could blame… -
news
How Michigan’s Welfare Population Declined by 70% in 4 Years
Since Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder assumed office, the number of welfare recipients in the state has declined by a staggering 70 percent, according to a news report. A total of 64,492 individuals received cash assistance from the state this past August, down from 227,490 in 2011. Snyder, a Republican, took office in January 2011 and was re-elected in November… -
opinion
Report Shows Michigan Police Seized Over 23 Million In Property and Cash Last Year
Last month, as the Michigan Senate debated a host of reforms to the state’s civil asset forfeiture laws, the Michigan State Police released its Asset Forfeiture Report, the annual publication required by state law that details Michigan’s drug-related forfeiture activities. The report aggregates data from 629 local police departments, sheriff’s departments, and multijurisdictional task forces,… -
opinion
Why Michigan’s Attorney General Has Backed Forfeiture Reform
Civil forfeiture reformers in Michigan just gained an unlikely but welcome ally: Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. To date, the forfeiture debate in virtually every state has been characterized by a stiff divide between reformers demanding change and a law enforcement establishment implacably opposed to it. Schuette’s endorsement of reform legislation seems to be breaking… -
opinion
Michigan Lawmakers Win on Overcriminalization Reform
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said even a dog knows the difference between “being stumbled over and being kicked.” Our criminal law traditionally distinguished between stumblers and kickers: those who commit a morally blameworthy act, called an actus reus, along with an “evil” frame of mind, known as mens rea or scienter. Legislators maintained that distinction… -
news
Michigan Could Keep Its Iran Sanctions Regardless of Washington’s Actions
As Congress spends its August recess deliberating the Iran deal, Michigan has introduced two resolutions this week urging U.S. legislators to oppose the accord. The state House is also moving to preserve its sanctions against Tehran regardless of the agreement’s fate. “Certainly, there are several members of Congress both in the House and the Senate… -
news
How Michigan Lawmakers Want to Make It Harder for Law Enforcement to Take Your Stuff
Last year, two Michigan self-described “soccer moms” were the victims of raids conducted by local law enforcement officials, who took telephones, televisions and cash from the women’s homes under civil asset forfeiture laws. The women, Ginnifer Hency and Annette Shattuck, have never been found guilty of a crime. Inspired by cases such as these, a… -
opinion
Michigan Governor Signs Bills Protecting Freedom of Adoption Agencies
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has signed into law three bills protecting the freedom of private adoption agencies to operate in accordance with their beliefs, including that children deserve a married mother and father. This is good public policy. The Michigan law comes on the same day the North Carolina legislature protected the religious liberty of… -
news
Michigan Bill Would Add to Regulations on Homeschooling
Legislation has been introduced in the Michigan Legislature that would enact stricter regulations on homeschooling in the state. The legislation follows the deaths of two Detroit children whose mother explained their absence from a traditional school by claiming they were being homeschooled. Michigan’s House Bill No. 4498 would require homeschooled students to meet in person… -
opinion
Before Hiking Gas Taxes, Michigan Needs to Spend Money for Roads More Wisely.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is leading an effort to gradually double the state’s 19-cent per gallon gas tax. Doing so would boost the state’s transportation coffers by over $1 billion new tax dollars. But Snyder isn’t sure that’s enough, saying, “The money I’m talking about is to get us to fair to good roads…. -
news
Michigan Union Tricks Teachers Into Prolonging Membership
Rob Wiersema teaches high school economics, and he knows the merits of a simple cost-benefit analysis. Leaving the Michigan Education Association, he surmised, made economic sense. He had found another professional association that offered better benefits at a lower cost. But his simple economics become complicated. The union didn’t want him to go. In December…