Jarrett Skorup

Jan 14, 2025 | mackinac.org | Jarrett Skorup

| Font size: 75% 100% 125% 150% Bryan DeHenau is a roofer in Clinton Township.

Jan 10, 2025 | mackinac.org | Jarrett Skorup

Two unwieldy laws regarding sick leave and the minimum wage are set to go into effect at the end of February. They are written so poorly that the effects on Michigan workers, businesses and consumers could be massive. Together, they should be referred to as the “jobless bills.”The history of these proposals is unique, but not in a good way. Michigan law allows citizen’s initiatives, in which groups can gather enough signatures to propose a law to the legislature. Lawmakers then have three options.

Jan 9, 2025 | mackinac.org | Jarrett Skorup

Michigan’s “economic development” agency last March announced its plan to give $50 million in taxpayer money to a Canadian company that might build a copper mine in the Upper Peninsula. The subsidy to Toronto-based Highland Copper came with promises of $425 million in capital investment and 380 "high-wage, family-sustaining jobs in the Western Upper Peninsula," but the Copperwood Mine deal has lost much of its luster recently.

Nov 14, 2024 | mackinac.org | Jarrett Skorup

| Font size: 75% 100% 125% 150% The following are a few of the biggest bills and issues the Mackinac Center is monitoring during the Michigan Legislature's lame-duck session. The Legislature has spiked government spending and passed $4.6 billion in special corporate subsidies in the past two years. Despite that spending, Michigan has seen five straight months of employment losses. Yet special breaks for chosen businesses remain the top priority of outgoing lawmakers. Make It In MI Fund —...

Nov 13, 2024 | mackinac.org | Jarrett Skorup

| Font size: 75% 100% 125% 150% In 2003, the state of Michigan enacted a law starting the “Venture Michigan Fund.” This was a venture capital program where managers made investments backed by taxpayer funding. By all measures, it was a failure. It had no measurable effect on the economy; the 2004-2015 period saw Michigan lose more than 150,000 jobs, the worst performance among the 50 states. A 2018 Auditor General report found that it spent $450 million on 52 companies for 734 jobs — a dismal...