Jamie A. Hope

Lansing, Mount Cold

Writer, Contributor and Assistant Managing Editor at Michigan Capitol Confidential

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Articles

Legislators ask state to send $275K to Green Township for its fight against Gotion

1 week ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

Residents of Green Charter Township would find some relief from the township’s legal bills if Michigan lawmakers approve an earmark request in the next state budget. Township officials face a lawsuit from Gotion, a Chinese company that alleges a breach of contract. Gotion, which has close ties to the Chinese Communist Party, manufactures electric battery components and plans to construct a plant in the township, which local officials approved.
While kicking off summer on Memorial Weekend, don’t forget to honor those who gave us freedom to enjoy it

1 week ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

Don’t forget to honor Michigan’s fallen soldiers on Memorial Day. While the weekend is now celebrated as the kickoff to summer, it is important to remember why the nation has a three-day weekend: to honor our fallen soldiers. Michigan Capitol Confidential calls on readers to honor the heroes who gave their lives to protect our freedoms. It is important to not just honor friends and family who may have paid the ultimate sacrifice, but also to remember those we may not have known.
Michigan roads improve but will crumble without funding solution

2 weeks ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

Michigan’s roads are in the best shape they’ve been in years. But that won’t last for long unless Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Legislature enact a long-term plan for funding road improvements. The Transportation Asset Management Council concluded in its 2024 report, released in May, that 68% of the state’s primary roads are in good or fair condition.
Watchdog cries foul on stadium earmarks

2 weeks ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy has sued the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity over what it says are unconstitutional earmarks approved by the Legislature. Its legal team is seeking an injunction to prevent the department from dispersing the money until the court resolves the dispute.
State rep blasts taxpayer-funded financial-aid sweepstakes

3 weeks ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

A taxpayer-funded sweepstakes that encourage students to fill out a Free Application for Student Aid is a waste of public money, according to a state House representative. The 2025 Michigan budget allocates $980,000 for the ‘Ticket to Tuition Sweepstakes,’ Gov. Whitmer promoted April 16. The governor is holding out a chance to share in a purse of $1 million in prizes in her effort to get all students to seek public assistance by filling out the student aid form known commonly as FAFSA.
Michigan House asks taxpayers to fund 800 pork projects

3 weeks ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

Michigan House lawmakers want state taxpayers to fund about 800 pork projects. Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, released a list of “legislatively directed spending items” — also known as pork projects — the amount requested, which organizations would benefit, and which legislator requested the spending. If the 2026 budget were to contain all those requests, pork spending would be more than twice the size of the total for fiscal year 2024, which set a record.
Five years later, Whitmer can unilaterally shut down the state

3 weeks ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

If Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wanted to unilaterally impose new restrictions on business and social activity tomorrow, as she did March 10, 2020, she still has the power to do so. While the Michigan Supreme Court struck down one law Whitmer used to justify her actions, other state laws still grant the governor extensive power, Michael Van Beek, director of research at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, told Michigan Capitol Confidential.
Mackinac Center sues Flint Community Schools

1 month ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy has sued Flint Community Schools for failing to fulfill a Freedom of Information Act request. The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation filed the suit April 30 on behalf of Michigan Capitol Confidential after the school district failed to fulfill a Feb. 17 FOIA request for records on expenditures for out-of-state travel by district staff in 2023 and 2024.
Dues-skim union has no bargaining power for home care providers

1 month ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

One of America’s largest unions is targeting Michigan home health care providers for dues under a 2024 law that reclassified their employment status. But the union is making promises it can’t keep, according to a legal expert. Caregivers from around the state are reporting to Michigan Capitol Confidential that representatives of the Service Employees International Union have appeared at their homes and sent union solicitations in the mail.
Two Democratic lawmakers agree: AG Nessel sicced government on business owners during pandemic

1 month ago | michigancapitolconfidential.com | Jamie A. Hope

News Story Tucker Carlson blasts Michigan’s attorney general over her 2021 arrest of a business owner A restaurant owner who was arrested and jailed for operating her Holland restaurant during the COVID pandemic asked the Legislature to rein in the power of unelected bureaucrats during testimony April 23 at a Weaponization of State Government subcommittee hearing.