Whitmer’s support for local control may give way to push for solar and wind power
Local zoning decisions stand in the way of state directives
Some legislative Democrats have called for giving state regulators more say over land-use decisions as a way to advance their green energy goals. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who would have to sign any legislation into law, must decide whether she will stand by her past advocacy of local officials or favor a greater role for the Michigan Public Service Commission.
Four House bills, HB 5120-5123, would preempt local governments, which have used zoning ordinances to have a say over whether or where industrial-scale wind or solar power developments go up. Local governments and others could present their views at MPSC meetings if these bills become law, but state regulators would have the final say, according to an analysis by the House Fiscal Agency.
The governor suggested in a press release that she favors the bills to give state regulators more control over what have been local decisions. “To hit our clean energy goals, the Michigan Public Service Commission needs more tools,” Whitmer said Aug. 30.
The governor has in the past praised local governments and rejected efforts to restrict their power.
In 2021 Whitmer said she would not enforce a measure in the budget that would have prohibited local and state health officials from imposing mask mandates on children under 18, according to Chalkbeat Detroit.
When Whitmer was a state senator in 2011, she opposed legislation to let the state take power from local governments. The bill, which Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law, let state-appointed emergency managers take control of local governments in deep financial trouble. Whitmer opposed the bill. “It is an unfair and unjustified power grab that allows these appointed, not elected, managers to operate above the law and often against the will of the people,” Whitmer said.
As governor, Whitmer also supported the power of local governments to impose masking requirements on schoolchildren during the COVID-19 pandemic. After the Michigan Supreme Court struck down her pandemic-related emergency powers, Whitmer said it was important to make decisions at the local level. “That is why it is important to empower and respect our school boards and county health officials,” Whitmer said, according to the Alpena News.
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.
So you want to move to Michigan? Here’s the reality
$20M marketing blitz won’t mask Michigan’s problems, but an engaged public can help
The state of Michigan is spending $20 million on a multiyear campaign, called “You Can in Michigan.” Between the new campaign and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s “Make It In Michigan” effort, the state is spending about $60 million to tell Michigan’s story beyond its boundaries.
The sales pitch is simple: “Career opportunity, quality of life and affordability.”
It’s a nice thought, but it solves the wrong problem. The reason people leave Michigan, or do not move here, does not owe to bad marketing or to a lack of marketing. It owes to reality.
Between the roads, the electrical grid, and the schools — all poor — quality of life is a struggle in Michigan, not a reason to move here. Yes, it’s pretty. But what else?
Michigan is run as a 150-person club out of Lansing, not as a state of 10 million people. Lawmakers spend $82 billion of the public’s money. A billion of that is on earmarks, pure pork, with only vague details about where the money is going, and at whose behest. Lawmakers frequently don’t have access to current information on bills, and the information available to the public is often months old.
If you want to move to Michigan and be an involved citizen, transparency is a battle you will fight, from local governments to the state government in Lansing.
We have a state government whose tentacles extend into every aspect of your life, either overriding local decision-makers or removing them from the process. Should your private school administer medical marijuana? Should a farmer be able to put wind turbines and solar panels on their property? Under current leadership, the belief is that those decisions should be made in Lansing, not locally.
We have leaders for whom the saying “character is destiny” augurs poorly.
We have government officials who go to great lengths to cancel income tax cuts for the public. They then turn around to offer billions in corporate welfare to Michigan’s biggest companies. Our leaders believe the answer to every problem, even a state-created problem, is more bureaucracy.
We have a governor and attorney general who used the power of the administrative state to crush — or attempt to crush — barbers or restaurant owners who dared to earn a living during a pandemic. Not every business owner made it. Some people lost everything.
Come to Michigan, if Tim Allen’s voice urges you. And you will find a state that needs help.
You will find children left behind by Zoom schooling. You will find workers left behind by the government-driven transition to electric vehicles. You will find good people stunned by the difference between the Michigan they grew up in and the Michigan they now occupy.
They’ll never leave, and they’ll always believe. They’re just not sure what to do next.
Come to Michigan. You can call it the Fresh Coast, even.
But when you do come, ask not what Michigan can do for you. Ask for a bucket, and start bailing water.
James David Dickson is managing editor of Michigan Capitol Confidential. Email him at dickson@mackinac.org.
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.
More From CapCon