| Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy

News

Ford School students turn policy training into practical support for Michigan communities

Jun 19, 2026

When Brighton city leaders set out to help residents better understand how public dollars are raised and spent, they faced a challenge familiar to many local governments. Their detailed 100-page financial report was not written for everyday use. A te...

Students

Max Wei

Policy Analyst

[email protected]

Max is a Research Assistant helping with CLOSUP's Spring 2026 Michigan Public Policy Survey. He is currently an undergraduate student at the Ford School (Class of 2027). Max is interested in the intersection between public policy and criminal justice...

25 years of CLOSUP

Apr 15, 2026 0:03:35

CLOSUP was established in 2001 to create a bridge between the University of Michigan and Michigan's communities. We are celebrating 25 years of CLOSUP, featuring voices of past and current directors, students, and partners.

Publication

Michigan's local governments make progress on budgeting, but many lag on long-term planning

May 6, 2026

In a time of economic volatility, relatively few local governments in Michigan report they are doing long-term financial planning—though many say they'd like to be doing more. The findings come in the latest installment of the Michigan Public Policy ...

Michigan's local governments make progress on budgeting, but many lag on long-term planning

CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Report: Michigan local governments making progress on best practices in budgeting

May 6, 2026

A new MPPS report presents assessments by Michigan's local government leaders of local budgeting processes, including the prevalence of multi-year budgeting, capital improvement plans (CIPs), and long-term financial planning, as well as views on the ...

MPPS

Michigan local governments making progress on best practices in budgeting

May 6, 2026

Debra Horner, Natalie Fitzpatrick, Stephanie Leiser, Margaret Walthall, Morgan McKimmy

This report presents the assessments of Michigan's local government leaders on local budgeting processes, including the prevalence of multi-year budgeting, capital improvement plans (CIPs), long-term financial planning, and views on the appropriate l...

News

CLOSUP marks 25 years at Lansing anniversary event

Apr 17, 2026

On April 15, 2026, the Ford School's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) celebrated a quarter century of impact. Approximately 75 current and former CLOSUP directors, staff, students, collaborators, and state legislators gathered in La...

CLOSUP marks 25 years at anniversary event

State & Hill

25 years of CLOSUP

Apr 11, 2026

When the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission faced a tidal wave of public input—more than 30,000 comments—the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) and Ford School students stepped in. Their analysis helped the commiss...

In the Media

Leiser discusses CLOSUP at 25 and the Michigan Public Policy Survey to Washtenaw County

Apr 7, 2026 WEMU

Director of the Center for Local, State and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) Stephanie Leiser discusses the Michigan Public Policy Survey that has implications for Michigan's local government leaders from well over a thousand counties, cities, villages and town...

Stephanie Leiser: Helping local goverments in Michigan become healthier and more resilient

News

Government of, by and for people? Sure, but it needs more people to serve, U-M survey finds

Apr 8, 2026

Abraham Lincoln famously spoke of a government of, by and for the people. Yet it's getting harder to find people to serve in government, according to a survey of local leaders across Michigan. The findings come in the latest installment of the Michig...

Government of, by and for people? Sure, but it needs more people to serve, U-M survey finds

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