Governmental relations

In the Media

Majority of U.P. local officials agree: Political partisanship is bad for communities

Nov 7, 2024 Read more

MARQUETTE — The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a fairly secluded place. It’s almost like its own world, often feeling detached from the rest of the country and even from the Lower Peninsula of the same state.However, U.P. local officials have...

In the Media

A guide to Washtenaw County proposals

Nov 4, 2024 Read more

This election cycle, Washtenaw County voters will decide whether to approve ballot proposals regarding tax funding of emergency communications systems, veterans relief, senior services and mental health services.The Michigan Daily interviewed...

CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Report: Michigan local government and law enforcement leaders’ initial opinions of Michigan’s new "red flag" law

Oct 30, 2024

A new MPPS report presents the views of Michigan’s local government leaders, county sheriffs, local chiefs of police, and county prosecutors regarding Michigan’s Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) law, including confidence in training on proper...

In the Media

Worried issuers weigh in on FDTA

Oct 23, 2024 Read more

Municipal market participants this week laid out their doubts about a data standards law in a blizzard of comments to the Securities and Exchange Commission.A similar refrain came from issuers big and small: the Financial Data Transparency Act of...

MPPS in the news

Challenges in Law Enforcement Recruitment and Retention in Michigan

Sep 19, 2024 Forward Pathway

Local leaders in Michigan are increasingly alarmed about the challenges of hiring and retaining law enforcement officers, as highlighted in the latest Michigan Public Policy Survey conducted by the University of Michigan’s Center for Local, State,...

MPPS in the news

Local leaders in Michigan sound alarms over hiring, keeping law enforcement officers

Sep 17, 2024 Michigan News

Concerns about hiring and keeping law enforcement officers have skyrocketed among local government officials in Michigan in the past decade.Local law enforcement officials themselves are even more pessimistic about recruitment and retention within...

MPPS in the news

Tough job, fewer applicants: Michigan struggles to hire police, survey finds

Sep 17, 2024 Bridge Michigan

Police agencies throughout Michigan are struggling to hire qualified officers, a new study finds, exacerbating an officer shortage that has hit forces nationwide.A University of Michigan study released Tuesday found that 72% report difficult hiring...

CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Report: Michigan local governments report increased challenges with law enforcement recruitment and retention

Sep 17, 2024

A new MPPS report presents the views of Michigan’s local government leaders, county sheriffs, local chiefs of police, and county prosecutors regarding recruitment and retention of law enforcement personnel, including police officers, sheriffs’...

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CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Policy Brief: Michigan local government leaders’ concerns about the health of democracy edge upward, including at local level

Aug 14, 2024

A new MPPS policy brief presents the views of Michigan’s local government leaders on a variety of issues across the state for their assessments of American democracy as a system of government, based on factors like free and fair elections, rule of...

MPPS in the news

Rural Prosperity Summit 2024 Recap

May 23, 2024 MI Office of Rural Prosperity

Over 275 attendees representing 91 rural Michigan communities attended the first-ever Michigan Rural Prosperity Summit on May 20, 2024. The Summit, hosted by the Michigan Office of Rural Prosperity, featured 19 speakers and panelists over 10...

MPPS in the news

Local relations with state government decline over time

Dec 22, 2023 Michigan 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...

MPPS in the news

U.P. local government leaders identify challenges in getting state and federal grants

Dec 7, 2023 Rural Insights

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...

MPPS in the news

LOCAL LEADERS DECLINING FAITH IN MICHIGAN STATE GOVERNMENT

Dec 5, 2023 Barrett & Greene Management Update

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...

MPPS in the news

Survey: Local Leaders Say Relations With State Gov't Strained

Nov 29, 2023 Gongwer

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....

MPPS in the news

WJR Radio Interview with Debra Horner on State-Local Relations in Michigan

Nov 15, 2023 WJR Radio

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...

CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Policy Brief: Challenges continue for state-local relations, according to Michigan local government leaders

Nov 1, 2023

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...

MPPS in the news

U-M TO LAUNCH STUDY EVALUATING THE NEED FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM

Aug 16, 2023 Insight Chronicle

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...

MPPS in the news

U-M to launch state-wide study evaluating community needs for criminal justice reform

Aug 15, 2023 The Michigan Daily

MPPS in the news

Study to examine criminal justice reform in Michigan

Aug 1, 2023 The University Record

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...

MPPS in the news

Survey: Locals Not Concerned About Right To Work Status

Jul 27, 2023 Gongwer.com

A majority of local government leaders said in a recent survey the state's recently repealed right to work law has had no impact on relationships between the municipality and employee unions. The Michigan Public Policy Survey at the Center for...

CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Policy Brief: Michigan local government leaders’ views on their employee unions: few changes in relationships or impacts as Right-to-Work comes and goes

Jul 26, 2023

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...

MPPS in the news

Municipalities Hit Spending Struggles With Federal COVID Relief Dollars

Jul 11, 2023 MIRS

Federal funds intended to stabilize the budgets of local communities have proven a daunting task to take down for multiple reasons, a recent policy survey by the University of Michigan found. Cities, villages and townships trying to spend the $4.4...

MPPS in the news

Bonds

Jul 10, 2023 StockTraderApp.com

Most Michigan local governments are spending their federal pandemic aid on capital projects, while facing challenges from rising project costs and uncertainty about future funding. A new survey from the University of Michigan’s Center for Local,...

MPPS in the news

Local Michigan governments face challenges spending ARPA funds

Jul 6, 2023 The Bond Buyer

MPPS in the news

Inflation Driving Concern About ARPA Spending For Local Governments

Jul 6, 2023 Gongwer

The federal government offered $1.9 trillion to help local governments stabilize their budgets in 2021 through the American Rescue Plan Act, but two years later, many local leaders in Michigan say inflation and supply chain challenges are making the...

MPPS in the news

Michigan towns and cities struggle to spend COVID-19 funding, survey finds

Jul 5, 2023 Detroit Free Press

Often, local governments decry a lack of needed funding. But in a twist, a new University of Michigan survey found unique challenges faced by Michigan localities trying to spend some of the billions of dollars in federal COVID-19...

MPPS in the news

Michigan towns and cities struggle to spend COVID-19 funding, survey finds

Jul 5, 2023 Ground News

The 2021 American Rescue Plan Act provides $4.4 billion to help local governments. The Michigan Public Policy Survey of nearly 2,000 local governments in the last two years has asked leaders about their experiences with the federal outlay. Most...

MPPS in the news

Survey finds Michigan towns, cities struggling to spend COVID-19 funds

Jul 5, 2023 Bravo Bulletin

Often, local governments bemoan the lack of necessary funds. But in a twist, a new University of Michigan survey found Michigan areas facing unique challenges trying to spend billions of dollars in federal COVID-19...

In the Media

The Detroit News and its privatization bias

Mar 16, 2023 Wayland Town Broadcast

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In the Media

Whitmer’s new budget proposal: What it means for Michigan residents

Feb 24, 2023 The Michigan Daily

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced her fifth executive budget recommendation for the 2024 fiscal year on Feb. 8, setting the record for the largest budget proposal in Michigan’s history at $79...