Michigan facts guide

Michigan’s lakes and rivers face a wave of challenges. At the same time, the state continues to grapple with new threats to drinking water in communities besides Flint.

For more than a quarter century, policy makers have tinkered with Michigan’s social safety net. Whether reforms have improved the state’s welfare system remains a matter of ongoing debate.

In 2010, an estimated 1.2 million Michigan residents had no health insurance. By 2016, that fell to approximately 527,000. But, as of this writing in early 2018, the future of health care is unclear.

Candidates for state office will talk about whatever it is they want to talk about. Here are the critical issues they should be addressing, and the facts you need to evaluate their campaigns.

Incentives generally are not the deciding factor for a company looking to move or expand. But incentives are at the center of an economic development arms race, one in which states that don’t play can find themselves losing out on high-profile projects.

The incomes of Michigan workers took a big hit during the Great Recession. Incomes have recovered somewhat in recent years, but Michigan has not returned to its high-wage reputation.

Michigan paydays aren’t what they used to be. Many paychecks are smaller than a generation ago. Still, the current climate for workers is measurably better than the depths of the Great Recession.

Michigan’s economy has long centered around manufacturing — especially autos. But reliance on a single industry produces boom and bust cycles.

A commonly shared premise among economic experts: a well-educated work force is key to high-wage jobs and prosperity in the 21st century.

As student performance in Michigan has plummeted, one strategy where many elected officials, educators, business leaders and state residents agree is bolstering future student success through early childhood programs.

Some 1.5 million students attend some 3,000 public schools in Michigan. As academic performance has lagged, competing school reform proposals have sprouted like Michigan summer corn.

If K-12 achievement in Michigan were a trendline, it is clearly pointing the wrong direction. By just about any measuring stick, the state is losing the race to educational excellence.