Michigan Legislators Tout New Policies that Produce Failing Scores for K-12 Students
May 23, 2023
EducationGovernment
Despite increased funding, Michigan’s K-12 public schools have been performing worse every year. That’s because it’s not a funding issue, it’s a public policy issue.…
Unfunded Liabilities Continue to Put Municipal Services and Our Kids’ Futures in Jeopardy
May 23, 2023
GovernmentPensions
Michigan lawmakers are gearing up for a new state budget that will likely continue to leave local municipal services at risk and set our children…
Michigan has a $9 billion surplus and a drumbeat of empty promises to “fix the damn roads,” yet people are kicking up their feet and…
Elected Leaders and Legislators Go Island-hopping While Michigan’s Population Shrinks
May 23, 2023
Government
Our elected leaders are getting ready to meet and clink beers at next week’s Mackinac Policy Conference, but they certainly don’t deserve “cheers” from Michigan…
Limiting School-of-Choice Options for Michigan Students Hurts All of Us
May 17, 2023
EducationGovernment
After enacting a misguided plan to end worker freedom in Michigan earlier this year, Gov. Whitmer and the state Legislature have now set their sights…
Educators carry one of the heaviest lifts in our communities shaping our leaders of tomorrow - and unfortunately, Michigan is on the brink of making…
Mississippi Enacts Forward-thinking Policies that Result in Better Scores for K-12 Students While Michigan Lags Behind
April 25, 2023
EducationGovernment
Michigan’s K-12 education system is sliding backward and moving in a direction that will hold our students back. Our children deserve data-based interventions that will…
Site Selectors Aren’t Looking for a Pot of Cash, They Want Investments That Last
April 20, 2023
Economy
Taxpayers are paying more than $680,000 for every single job created at the planned electric vehicle battery plant in Marshall, Michigan. With state incentives that…
Despite Challenges, Michigan Can Work to Remove New ‘Closed for Business’ Sign
April 10, 2023
EconomyGovernment
Michigan employers continue to face a severe labor shortage, slowing down business growth. Unfortunately, these challenges are compounded by a declining state population and the…
Financial Literacy is a Key Economic Development Incentive for the State of Michigan
April 4, 2023
Economy
Financial Literacy Month in April is a great opportunity to illustrate why a financially literate population is so important for a healthy state economy. In…
Legislature Targeting ‘A-F’ State Law That Requires Michigan Public Schools to be Accountable and Transparent
March 28, 2023
EducationGovernment
Our state Legislature is taking troubling steps to make Michigan public schools less accountable and transparent to parents and taxpayers. The state House has approved…
Business Coalition Advocates Against Right-to-work Repeal Took Courageous Stand
March 24, 2023
Government
The West Michigan Policy Forum today thanked state business coalition members for taking a brave stand against repealing the state’s landmark right-to-work law. WMPF Policy…
State business climate rankings are immensely important because companies use them to help determine where to locate new facilities, which in turn helps create good-paying…
Legislature Ignoring the Will of the People by Attempting to Repeal State’s Right-to-work Law
March 13, 2023
Government
Although right-to-work continues to be strongly supported by a majority of Michigan residents, the state House recently approved bills to repeal our state’s RTW law. …
Ford Motor Company recently made headlines for selecting Marshall, Michigan, in the southwestern part of our state for a $2.5B electric-vehicle battery plant. We applaud…
Every March, educators, elected officials and communities celebrate National Reading Month. The goal is to encourage reading every day across generations. Unfortunately in Michigan, we…
Loud Population Trends in Michigan and Across the Country: Coincidence, Correlation, or Causation?
March 1, 2023
GovernmentTalent
Nearly 50,000 people have fled Michigan over the last three years, moving to states like Florida, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Arizona.…
As our state’s legislators work ahead on priorities for the year, Michigan’s new Speaker of the House Joe Tate sat down with leaders and investors…
Learning to Read to Read to Learn: Why Preserving Michigan’s Third Grade Reading Law is Essential
February 23, 2023
EducationGovernment
The Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP) is preparing to tackle the heaviest challenges facing Michigan students this year through programs and policies that prioritize quality,…
How Right-to-work Helped Tennessee Become a Pro-business State, and How Michigan Can Follow Suit
February 22, 2023
GovernmentLabor
Last November, Tennessee joined eight other states in recognizing worker freedom as a fundamental right by constitutionalizing right-to-work - the law that protects workers from…
More than half of the United States agrees that workers should have the right to choose what’s best for them - with 28 states having…
In Michigan, we’ve had the opportunity to feel and see the prosperity and success being a right-to-work (RTW) state brings. And, we’re not alone in…
We’re still fighting to protect our students’ educational growth - and this year, our third graders are on the front lines. Democrats want to repeal…
You may have seen our recent op-ed in The Detroit News on the benefits of right-to-work. And you may have heard our conversation with Michael…
2023 New Year’s Resolution: Doing What’s Right for Michigan Children
January 9, 2023
EducationGovernment
Wishful thinking is failing Michigan’s students - we need action. We can’t let another 12 months go by with record-high spending at the K-12 level…
A Tale of Two Economies: Possibilities of Michigan’s Right-to-work
December 15, 2022
GovernmentLabor
As Michigan’s Right-to-work (RTW) law celebrates 10 years as a statute, it also faces the possibility of repeal from the incoming Democratic majority. In this…
Small Business in Michigan Continues to Take Punches with Judicial Overturn of Changes Made to Paid Sick Leave and Minimum Wage
December 14, 2022
GovernmentLabor
In 2018, at the urging of the National Federation of Independent Business in Michigan (NFIB) and the business community, the Michigan legislature adopted the minimum…
Protecting Right-to-work Laws: The Window of Freedom for Michigan Workers
December 9, 2022
GovernmentLabor
10 years ago we came together to protect the interest of all Michigan workers, unions, and our state’s economy by advocating to make Michigan a…
Number of Michigan Schools Requiring State Involvement Dramatically Increases
December 8, 2022
Education
New data released by the Michigan Department of Education shows 112 of Michigan’s K-12 schools received low-achieving marks. This is a dramatic increase from 2018,…
As the legislative session winds down, investors and leaders of the West Michigan Policy Forum heard from Michigan Representative Matt Hall of Comstock Township about…
I run a Kalamazoo-based organization called KPEP, a private, nonprofit community corrections organization that has facilities in Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Battle Creek, Benton Harbor and Paw…
Michigan Broke its Promise and Our Students are Bearing the Burden
October 13, 2022
EducationGovernment
In 2018, our state made a commitment to improve our education system when legislators approved a bill that holds schools accountable for their performance and…
The Transformational Investments Michigan Needs to Drive Us to a Prosperous Future
October 5, 2022
Government
This summer, Michigan legislators agreed on a $76 billion budget, which included fulfilling pension promises. The West Michigan Policy Forum is proud of our lawmakers…
Florida is Closing the Gaps in Education Equity, and Their Academic Performance is Soaring
September 14, 2022
Education
Florida’s K-12 education system has gotten a major face-lift over the last twenty years, and continues to climb the ladder with the push of policies…
Michigan’s K-12 education system ranks 32 in the nation according to U.S. News. And according to data from the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress…
Beyond Fiscal Year 2023: Michigan has $7 Billion and We Need to Ensure it Gets in the Right Hands
September 7, 2022
GovernmentTalent
There’s $7 billion that remains available on Michigan’s balance sheet, half of which is leftover one-time federal stimulus dollars. Michigan’s fiscal year 2023 budget signed…
You might be surprised to learn that Michigan has a law against starting school before Labor Day – if you are in one of the…
The hospitality industry is filled with incredible servers, who, for the most part, intentionally chose this business because of the perks of tipping. In an…
This month, The West Michigan Policy Forum (WMPF) hosted a conversation with Michigan State Senator and Senate President Pro Tempore Aric Nesbitt. Senator Nesbitt lives…
Do you know what one of the key elements to a thriving economy is? It’s often overlooked and underestimated, but it’s the foundation for a…
The top priority for the WMPF this year has been: To ensure the spending of one-time dollars were used to achieve results that will be…
The West Michigan Policy Forum recently kicked off bi-monthly legislative chats to provide an intimate opportunity to have our members listen to, glean from, and…
Michigan and the rest of our nation have been facing a grave labor drought that’s impairing our economy and causing many businesses, large and small,…
Michigan legislators have unprecedented sums of money to spend. Some might call them “generational” dollars – not just because this much money only comes along…
Policy Forum Board Members Honored by The Economic Club of Grand Rapids as Community Leaders
June 13, 2022
The West Michigan Policy Forum would like to recognize and congratulate John and Nancy Kennedy and Mike VanGessel, who were recently honored at The Economic…
Two years ago at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan’s unemployment rate hit a high not seen since the great depression - 22.7% of…
As the pandemic shifts to an endemic phase, Americans and others around the world are examining what the state of personal freedom looks like in…
The State of Education in Michigan, the focus of the 2022 Kalamazoo Regional Meeting, brought a national expert to Southwest Michigan that added to a…
The ability to read is a strong predictor of future success, and Michigan’s kids are behind after multiple years of distance learning. The 2021 Michigan…
Never before in US history have dollars flowed from Washington to the states the way they currently are. The price tag: $350 billion for eligible…
Michigan is facing a housing shortage - and the cost of homes has skyrocketed over the past year, leaving many unable to afford housing. This…
Michigan’s success in recent years can be traced back to important improvements in the way business and residents live, work and play in our state.…
Protecting Lives and Livelihoods through #OpenMiSafely
November 14, 2021
GovernmentHealthcare
The West Michigan Policy Forum took communicating messaging and actions very seriously from the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goal first and foremost…