Perhaps sensing its future may truly be at stake, representatives of the Michigan Home Based Child Care Council (MHBCCC) complied with lawmakers' requests for comment at a legislative committee meeting. It was at least the fourth attempt since last fall to get the MHBCCC on the record about its role in the stealth unionization of Michigan's 40,000-plus home-based day care owners and providers.

Sen. Bill Hardiman (R-Kentwood), chair of the appropriations subcommittee on human services, has been particularly interested in hearing from the council. He and his counterpart in the Michigan House tried to eliminate funding for the MHBCCC in the current state budget, yet the Mackinac Center discovered the council continued to operate in spite of these efforts.

Tuesday's committee hearing gave senators a chance to quiz the MHBCCC about its purpose, its creation through an interlocal agreement between the Department of Human Services and Mott Community College, and the big question: the council's relationship with the Child Care Providers-Together Michigan or CCPTM, the so-called "day care union."

The testimony disclosed at least one unexpected revelation.

MHBCCC Board Chair Larry Simmons told the committee he did not know who initiated the union, admitting only that the council received a statement from MERC (The Michigan Employment Relation Commission, which certified the CCPTM) telling the council it could negotiate with the union.

What followed was a line of questioning the Mackinac Center had previously posed in the video report, "Are You My Employer?":

The "court" action Simmons referred to is the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation lawsuit against the DHS on behalf of three day care owners who say they were forced into a union without their knowledge. This case has prompted two amicus briefs in support of the Mackinac Center, as well as a federal class-action lawsuit by National Right To Work.

The legislators are not finished with the MHBCCC either. While acknowledging Simmons' and others' "passion for children," Hardiman concluded the hearing by stating he believes the council was established solely for the purpose of unionization and he intends to include specific budget language that "state dollars will not be used to fund the council."

In the meantime, it appears MERC can be added to the ever-growing list of state entities to be scrutinized for its role in the unionization of Michigan's day care owners and providers.

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Other news about this issue:

The Michigan Zombie Child Care Council

Connecting the Day Care Union Dots

Stealth Unionization: Action and Inaction

About nine months before an Auditor General's report questioned the accuracy of job projections in tax incentives handed to companies by the state, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy did its own study highlighting the problem.

On Aug. 31, 2009, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy's Michael LaFaive and James Hohman reviewed data from 219 credits from 1995 to 2004 involving the Michigan Economic Growth Authority.

The MEGA agreements are tax incentives designed to induce businesses to locate in Michigan. In return for the tax incentives, the businesses pledge to create new jobs.

The Mackinac Center found company projections of jobs seldom matched the real-life jobs created. In fact, their investigation of MEGA deals found that of the 61,043 jobs projected in news releases, companies only created 17,971 jobs. The Mackinac Center study states that for every 1,000 jobs companies projected they would create, about 294 jobs were actually created, on average — about 29 percent.

That report was vindicated by the Auditor General report that was released April 23. The report looked at company projections from 2005 through 2007 and concluded that about 28 percent of projected jobs came to fruition.

The Auditor General report stated 184,951 new jobs were projected while 52,286 were actually created.

"It confirms the fears we had," Hohman said. "The fear was they weren't really paying attention and that the jobs weren't real and the state was still giving out credits."

The Mackinac Center's analysis of MEGA's jobs impact didn't include the "retention credit jobs" which are defined as jobs that already existed but that were supposedly threatened if the state did not approve the tax credit.

Hohman said at the time of the Mackinac Center report, the Michigan Economic Development Corp., which administers MEGA, reporting figures included only one retention credit.

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Recent Michigan Capitol Confidential coverage of state economic development planning:

Lawmaker Says 'Willful Neglect' Is the Rule at Embattled State Agency

Analysis of Michigan Film Subsidies: Two Years, $117m — and No Film Job Growth

State Websites Give History a Rewrite