In November 2018, the citizens of Michigan passed Proposal 2, which amended the Michigan Constitution to place congressional and state legislative redistricting in the hands of a new Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC)...
Local officials across Michigan increasingly view electric vehicle infrastructure planning as relevant for their governments, though many cite too few public charging stations and costs associated with adding them as barriers to...
The city of Birmingham recently launched a new survey on Engage Birmingham that encourages residents to share their understanding of the city’s recycling program, their interest in recycling and how they think Birmingham can improve in this area....
Local governments generally found themselves fiscally sound during the coronavirus pandemic due to one-time infusions of federal aid, but long-term fiscal health is more varied and could be tough to navigate due to constraints on fiscal policy, a...
Three federal judges approved new Michigan House of Representatives voting districts on March 27. The map’s passing followed a lawsuit, Agee v. Benson, filed March 23, 2022, that alleged illegal racial gerrymandering in 13 Detroit-area House and...
In 2018, Ann Arbor resident Julie Roth vowed to take a break after two years of volunteering 20 hours a week. Then she attended an Ann Arbor District Library event about the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. Roth thought of...
A recent survey of local leaders around the state found that short-term injections of "major financial aid" don't make a great difference in addressing municipal fiscal...
For six days in November, 88-year-old Susan Smith sat on a polished wooden bench in a windowless federal courtroom in Kalamazoo as judges heard hours of testimony on the future of Michigan’s legislative maps. The testimony, as is the case with...
Researchers from the University of Michigan have noticed a significant gap between rural and urban communities when it comes to getting state or federal funding. The latest Michigan Public Policy Survey asked local governments what they...
Dec 22, 2023Michigan Association of Counties Magazine
Public service delivery is a process that often depends on multiple levels of government, especially among the state and its local governments. As threats to American democracy have increased, working relationships across levels of government in our...
The state’s housing agency aims to dangle a carrot in front of local governments as part of an effort to spur more housing. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) on Thursday rolled out $5 million in grants to support the state’s...
The state’s housing agency aims to dangle a carrot in front of local governments as part of an effort to spur more housing. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) on Thursday rolled out $5 million in grants to support the state’s...
Over the past few years, federal legislation such as the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) has made available unprecedented levels of funding for local government projects and...
Typically, people use the phrase “state and local government,” as though they are two entirely separate sets of entities. But unless the states and their cities, counties and towns work together smoothly, impediments to progress abound. Some...
Local government leaders across Michigan reported in a recent survey a decline in satisfaction in their overall relationship with state government leaders may in part be due to changes in the partisan makeup of its leadership, a recent survey found....
Dawn Crandall of the Home Builders Association of Michigan describes the state’s housing crisis as ongoing, with supply being limited, demand remaining really high and individuals seeking workforce housing getting “bumped even further down the...
About 60 University of Michigan students and Ann Arbor community members gathered in Weill Hall Wednesday evening to listen to a conversation about rural communities and sustainability in the United States. Hosted by the Center for Local, State, and...
Dr. Debra Horner, senior program manager for the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy at the University of Michigan, talks to Guy Gordon, Lloyd Jackson, and Jamie Edmonds about their survey on the relationship between local officials and state...
A new policy brief presents local government officials’ assessments of the relationship between their jurisdiction and Michigan’s state government. These findings are based on statewide surveys of local government leaders in the spring 2023 wave of...
A recent survey by the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy at the University of Michigan found officials in many of the state's communities feel they lack affordable housing. The Michigan Public Policy survey found 27% of respondents said they...
More local leaders, in rural, suburban and urban communities throughout Michigan, are raising alarms about housing shortages. The number of local officials reporting a lack of single-family housing has nearly doubled in the past six years – going...
As unprecedented state and federal funding opportunities have emerged over the past 18 months with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, Michigan local government leaders have expressed concerns about...
A new policy brief presents Michigan local government leaders’ views on their jurisdiction’s capacity for pursuing external grant funding from the state and federal governments. These findings are based on statewide surveys of local government...
Concerns among local government leaders in the Upper Peninsula about housing shortages in their communities have more than doubled since 2017. Today, 59% of officials from U.P. cities, villages, and townships say they have too little single-family...
Concerns among local government leaders in the Upper Peninsula about housing shortages in their communities have more than doubled since 2017. Today, 59% of officials from U.P. cities, villages, and townships say they have too little single-family...
The University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy and Poverty Solutions with the Ford School of Public Policy will launch a study to evaluate attitudes toward certain criminal justice reforms by polling the local government...
The University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy and Poverty Solutions with the Ford School of Public Policy will launch a study to evaluate attitudes toward certain criminal justice reforms by polling the local government...
In the wake of racial justice movements across the country, the state of Michigan and some of its communities have been implementing new public safety and criminal justice policies. The perspective of Michigan’s local government, public safety and...
A new policy brief presents the views of Michigan local government leaders on a range of issues regarding public employee unions in their jurisdictions, including their governments’ relationships with their employee unions, whether their unions are...