Desperate Times. . . . . . Desperate Measures Part I

The following is from a brochure published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. They've broken it up into eight sections, which I'll post one section every few days.

101 RECOMMENDATIONS TO REVITALIZE MICHIGAN

Michigan is blessed with a wealth of the human and natural resources integral to building vibrant commerce and vigorous communities in the 21st century. At the moment, however, counter-productive public policies have made it harder for our industries to compete nationally and internationally and have reduced our state's attractiveness to investors and entrepreneurs.

In addition, Michigan is not immune to the gradual erosion of equity and basic human freedom that accompanies a steady growth in the power and scope of government. Our government's ability to properly perform many critical functions, including education, has been jeopardized by policymakers' attempts to do too many things. This lack of focus has even led to confusion among policymakers over whether government exists to serve the people or vice versa.

There is a lot of work to do to reverse this, but there's good news. Once growth - and freedom-friendly policies are in place, recovery is likely to occur much more quickly than most people imagine.

Government Spending and Operations:

1. End mandatory collective bargaining for government employees who already enjoy civil service protections.
2. Eliminate the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
3. Privatize some state prisons.
4. Lower government employees' compensation to the average rate for private sector workers performing comparable work.
5. Eliminate state arts grants.
6. End the Michigan Economic Growth Authority.
7. Close down the 21st Century Jobs Fund, a business subsidy and government ownership program.
8. Replace conventional health insurance plans for government employees with health savings accounts.
9. Fund public universities primarily through a standard per-student grant or voucher, with a university's research financed in a separate line item.
10. Devolve State Police road patrols to county sheriff departments.
11. Eliminate state subsidies to the cooperative extension service to to Michigan State University's agriculture experiment station.
12. Eliminate state film production subsidies.
13. Stop paying Amtrak an annual state subsidy.
14. Eliminate Medicaid spending not mandated by federal regulations.
15. Pending the elimination of all nonmandated health-related spending, end Medicaid coverage for 19 and 20 year olds.
16. Eliminate - or cut in half - "Merit Awards," "Promise Grants," or other non-need-based college scholarships financed by tobacco lawsuit proceeds.
17. Require local bus systems subsidized by state road tax dollars to generate at least 20 percent of their operating expenses from fares paid by riders.
18. Enact smarter sentencing for nonviolent offenders.
19. Adopt a constitution amendment which would require setting aside 4 percent of projected revenue when adopting annual state budgets.
20. Repeal laws that mandate binding arbitration in labor disputes between local government and police or firefighter unions.
21. Require every state department and agency to post an expense register online that is at least equivalent to the one provided by the Michigan Department of State.
22. Repeal the state's "prevailing wage" law, which prohibits awarding government construction contracts to the lowest bidder unless it pays above-market wages.
23. Pending repeal of the state's prevailing wage law in total, repeal it for schools.
24. Pending repeal of the state's prevailing wage law, revise it into a "median wage" law focusing on low-wage, rather than high-wage workers.
25. Abolish special incentives to turn food or plants into fuel.

More to come. . . . . . .