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Citizens cannot do their job of running their government if they don’t know what their public servants are doing. Bridge will take you beyond the political food fights into the policy decisions that affect everyday life.
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Articles
Schuette and Whitmer’s tax, spending plans for Michigan don’t add up
Lots of promises. Few details. Both would create deficits. A closer look at how the candidates for Michigan governor plan to pay for all their promises.
Gretchen Whitmer’s plan for Michigan: $3B of promises and wishful thinking
The Democratic governor candidate is pledging to fix roads and education while barely raising taxes. Much of her plans, though, involve the most optimistic of projections and would create budget holes.
Bill Schuette wants to fix roads while cutting taxes. Good luck with that.
Economists say Schuette’s plan of pain-free tax cuts and fixing roads with no new revenues is from the realm of make-believe.
Michigan Republicans push ‘popular vote’ bills after trip to Hawaii
A California group sponsored oceanfront trips to Puerto Rico and Hawaii. Weeks later came GOP bills to change how Michigan awards presidential votes. Lawmakers did not have to disclose the travel.
Court settlement to end commercial fish farm on trout-rich Au Sable River
The settlement was announced Thursday by Anglers of the Au Sable, which had objected to what it said was a threat to the trout stream from fish waste produced by the farm.
How a shadow Republican group gerrymandered Michigan – sparking a backlash
Led by Michigan Chamber executives, the Michigan Redistricting Resource Institute paid $1 million to bolster GOP control of Lansing and the state’s congressional delegation even as state Democrats won just as many votes.
These Republican insiders split $1 million to design and defend Michigan 2011 maps
An obscure nonprofit, the Michigan Redistricting Resource Institute, paid the funds from undisclosed sources to GOP lawyers and consultants to draw legislative lines that favored the party in 2011 redistricting
Maps show how gerrymandering benefitted Michigan Republicans
How the Michigan GOP used scalpel-like precision – and sometimes the bluntness of a dull axe – to redraw state political boundaries in their favor since 2000.
Bill Schuette no longer touts Trump ties, but president’s shadow follows
Michigan's November election will be all about President Donald Trump, whether the candidates for governor like it or not. (Spoiler alert: Democrats like it.)
Turning Gretchen Whitmer into Granholm, a Republican gamble in governor race
Republicans say Gretchen Whitmer would push the same tax and economic policies as Michigan’s last Democratic governor, Jennifer Granholm. The record is more complicated.
Two Michigan House rivals say hello, talk. In other news: Hell freezes over.
What candidates across a divided political landscape can learn from two men competing for a House seat in Kalamazoo.
Michigan redistricting group gets $250,000 donation for fall ballot battle
Voters Not Politicians received the money from a national group pushing redistricting reform headed by former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder. Critics say it’s more proof of a Democratic scheme.
Bridge Magazine guide to the 2018 Michigan ballot proposals
Three statewide Michigan ballot proposals will appear in November, ranging from legalizing recreational marijuana to voting and redistricting reform. Bridge offers a quickie guide to their pros and cons, and who is funding them.
Michigan voters to governor candidates: Fix the roads, schools, insurance
At a recent Truth Tour stop, voters tell Bridge their concerns mostly align with top issues identified by Bill Schuette and Gretchen Whitmer in their campaigns for governor.
Expansion of Michigan's voting access to be decided by November ballot
The Michigan Board of State Canvassers unanimously voted to place a ballot proposal to expand voting access on the November ballot. It would allow, among other things, same-day voter registration and no-reason absentee voting.
Michigan Legislature passes minimum wage, paid sick leave bills to avert ballot
The Republican-led legislature could be in for a legal fight if they try to blunt or kill these measures after the November election. Democrats accuse GOP of foiling the will of voters by keeping measures off ballot.
Michigan senator introduces bill to fund $2B in water cleanups
The bonding bill, sponsored by Sen. Margaret O’Brien of Kalamazoo County, differs from a plan backed by Gov. Rick Snyder, who prefers to raise needed revenue via higher fees.
Here’s how Michigan’s redistricting commission would work
Voters will decide in November whether they’d like to create a citizens redistricting commission for drawing district lines. Here’s what we know, and don’t know about how that commission would work.
Michigan redistricting ballot language rejects partisan phrasings
The Bureau of Elections’ proposed ballot wording for the Voters Not Politicians initiative focuses on the structure of what a new redistricting commission would look like. It faces a hearing Thursday.
In final year, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder checks off much of ambitious agenda
In his State of the State address in January, the term-limited governor outlined an aggressive strategy in a lame-duck election year. Business and political leaders were skeptical.