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Cities would no longer be able to ban most outdoor recycling bins on private property under a bill introduced in the Michigan State Senate.
The bill comes as a relief to charities that have gotten permission from private property owners to install the bins in parking lots. Some municipalities have been working to ban outdoor charitable bins from groups other than those with brick and mortar recycling operations, like Goodwill.
Municipalities "can regulate, license and monitor collection bins but can't ban them," said Dan Dalton, an attorney whose clients, Planet Aid and St. Vincent de Paul, have been pushing for legislation.
The proposed law is Senate Bill 870, and is sponsored by Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawton.
Last year, Michigan Capitol Confidential reported on the city of Grand Rapids using an existing ordinance to force organizations to remove their collection bins in the parking lots of private businesses. The city claimed the bins were a trash nuisance, but could not produce documentation under a request through the Freedom of Information Act. The ban came shortly after Goodwill and the Salvation Army expanded their retail operations in the city. City officials denied the move was related.
Dalton said the bill is modeled after a successful ordinance in Portage, which allows outdoor bins but restricts their use. The growth and profitability of the secondhand goods market has opened the door for abuse, including the theft of goods from bins and the installation of unauthorized bins on private property.
Dalton said organizations got little response from local law enforcement. Similarly, there was little enforcement of existing Michigan law requiring proper labeling on bins.
The bill will require nonprofits to obtain a permit and describe how goods will be collected and distributed. Organizations must also show a certificate of good standing and provide written consent from property owners. Permits will last one year and can cost no more than $75.
The bill gives municipalities power to prohibit bins that are not properly maintained.
Dalton said the bill has been months in the making and is the consensus of a variety of interests.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.
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Michigan's Film Incentive Program Has Been A Bust
Taxpayers have spent nearly $450 million with little to show for it
In 2011, Michigan changed its open-ended film incentive program to a capped $25 million annual subsidy. Since then, it’s been increased to $50 million. While the executive budget this year calls for another $25 million for this program, it should be eliminated entirely.
All told, the state has devoted $444.7 million to film productions from both the tax credits and appropriations, according to the state treasury and budget offices.
Despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars, the program is not designed to establish a permanent film industry. Approved film productions spend money in the state and leave. The state sends them a check based on what they spent. The hope is that if you keep priming the pump enough, someone will stay of their own goodwill.
That is unlikely to occur because other states — and even the agglomeration of film producers in California — also are offering their own incentives. Producers threaten to leave states that think about pulling back on incentives.
This is borne out by the economic reports on the film industry in Michigan. While the industry is not large enough to get monthly reports from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, the survey lists 1,768 people employed by "motion picture and video production firms," in 2012. That is 0.05 percent of the total employment covered by the survey.
Total employment also is down from 2011 when 2,129 people were employed in this industry, though at no point from 2001 to 2012 were fewer than 1,300 or more than 2,200 people employed in this industry.
Supporters contend that film producers tend to use employee leasing agencies to hire workers. But that's the point — despite this substantial investment of taxpayer resources, there is no permanent film industry in Michigan. The state has so far approved $444.7 million in incentives with little to show for it.
Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.
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