Conservative ‘Think Tank’ Mackinac Center has a To Do List for Michigan’s next leaders

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy describes itself as a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Michigan residents by promoting sound solutions to state and local economic policy questions. It has often been described as Conservative, and generally believes less regulation of everyday life and of business is a good thing.

With that as a basis, the Mackinac Center “think tank” is out with its 101 Recommendations to Revitalize Michigan. While it comes on the cusp of the Election, the Mackinac Center stays above the partisan fray and zeroes in on policy and regulation—mostly de-regulation—suggestions.

Readers who are hopeful the next Michigan Legislature might actually find a way to legislate, rather than simply be accusatory across the aisle might want to examine the Recommendations for a possible ‘To Do List’ for their lawmakers.

A dozen of the Center’s key ideas are presented here, with the rest available via a link below.

A broad range of policy reforms are needed to revitalize Michigan’s economy and a new comprehensive list of policy recommendations can serve as a guide. “101 Recommendations to Revitalize Michigan,” released today by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, includes a wide array of reform ideas aimed at reducing living costs, boosting quality of life, improving government services and making it easier to do business in Michigan.

“Michigan has gone from one of the wealthiest states to one of stagnation. But it doesn’t have to be that way — good or bad public policy is a choice,” said Jarrett Skorup, vice president for marketing and communications at the Mackinac Center. “These recommendations cross the political and ideological spectrum and, regardless of who controls Michigan’s governorship and legislative bodies, are sound public policy ideas for any lawmaker valuing individual freedom, economic fairness and competitiveness.”

The report highlights 12 key recommendations which would have the most significant positive impact on the state. These are:

Making Michigan a right-to-work state again.
Eliminating all select subsidies, incentives, corporate welfare and industry-specific tax favors.
Passing education opportunity scholarships, where the full foundation allowance follows students to the school of their choice.
Creating a competitive electricity market to drive down rates and boost reliability for homeowners and businesses.
Requiring all significant rules and regulations proposed by state agencies be approved by the Legislature.
Passing a sustainable Michigan budget by capping spending increases at the rate of inflation plus population growth.
Cutting the state income tax back below 4% and setting it on a path to roll back to zero to match high-growth states like Tennessee, Texas, Florida and Washington.
Eliminating pork spending by requiring all targeted spending to go through the normal legislative process and be independently evaluated against other projects and services.
Regularly reviewing each of the 180-plus occupational licensing laws that are on the books and ensuring jobs are being licensed only when that regulation directly improves public health and safety.
Ditching Certificate of Need laws to allow medical facilities to open and expand their services and care.
Scrapping the “three-tier” system for alcohol control, which severely limits competition for manufacturers, distributors and retailers.
Placing guardrails on gubernatorial and administrative emergency powers by curtailing unilateral authority.

These recommendations reflect the Mackinac Center’s commitment to champion policies that empower individuals, nurture economic freedom and ensure that Michigan becomes a competitive state where businesses and families can thrive.

The full “101 Recommendations to Revitalize Michigan” can be found here.