COVID-19

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 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...

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...

News

CLOSUP survey looks at online government meeting quality, service disparities

May 26, 2022

More than half of Michigan's local officials say that moving government meetings online during the pandemic decreased the overall quality of such gatherings, according to a University of Michigan survey. The finding comes from the spring 2021 wave...

More than half of Michigan local governments report personnel harassed, abused for doing their jobs

News

Ivacko debates 2022 hot topics

Jan 5, 2022

Selected as a panelist for Hour Detroit's 2022 political predictions, Tom Ivacko, Executive Director of CLOSUP, weighed in on some of the most burning questions about Michigan's 2022 elections. The first question: How would Roe v. Wade, and...

Ivacko on federal infrastructure dollars in Michigan

News

2021: A year of public policy

Dec 16, 2021

The Ford School of Public Policy is a top-ranked public policy school dedicated to preparing diverse leaders to take on society’s most pressing challenges and make transformational discoveries through cutting-edge research. Experts from the Ford...

New law on data transparency will improve governance - Leiser

State & Hill

Partnerships in focus: Learning and research collaborations that create better public policy

Dec 13, 2021

By Rebecca Cohen (MPP ‘09) Two-directional learning helps small businesses and students thrive Lily Hamburger (MBA ’16) supports economic mobility for entrepreneurs as the senior director of the pandemic-born Detroit Means Business, a coalition...

Partnerships in focus: Learning and research collaborations that create better public policy

Publication

Michigan local government leaders report lingering impacts from COVID-19 pandemic, improvements overall from the start of the crisis

Oct 27, 2021

Local leaders from across the state have reported lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report, and worsening outlooks for how much longer some of those impacts will last. While the numbers of local communities reporting on...

CLOSUP Updates

MPPS Report: The lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Michigan communities and local governments

Oct 27, 2021

A new report from the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS) presents local government leaders’ views on the continuing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan in 2021, including overall impacts on local communities, evaluations of...

MPPS in the news

Michigan governments sit on $11B from stimulus, as needs grow every day

Oct 25, 2021 Bridge Michigan

Battle Creek — Helping residents pay off nearly $2 million in delinquent utility bills. Expanding high-speed internet access. Making major repairs at a wastewater treatment plant. There’s no shortage of ideas on how to spend a $30.5 million...

MPPS in the news

UM survey: State's local economies still struggling with COVID impacts

Sep 29, 2021 The Detroit News

Local governments in Michigan continue to struggle with the impacts of COVID-19 but at a lower rate than when the pandemic started in the spring of last year, according to a University of Michigan survey released...

CLOSUP Updates

MPPS Report: Michigan local governments report fewer economic challenges one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, and describe efforts to support local businesses

Sep 29, 2021

A new report from the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS) presents local government leaders’ views on COVID-19’s impact on local economic conditions, as well as reports of whether or not their local governments took action to help local businesses...

Enclosed tents for dining on a city street

In the Media

Michigan surpasses 1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases since start of pandemic

Sep 22, 2021 Detroit Free Press

It's confirmed: More than one million Michiganders have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic last year, according to state health department...

In the Media

Five things for state leaders to consider at Mackinac Policy Conference

Sep 20, 2021 WWJ Newsradio 950

Pattie Vitale of WWJ Newsradio 950 interviews Tom Ivacko about the state's most pressing policy...

MPPS in the news

U-M expert: Challenges abound as leaders assemble for Mackinac Policy Conference

Sep 20, 2021 Michigan News, University of Michigan

Many of Michigan’s business, political and academic movers and shakers are gathering this week for the annual Mackinac Policy Conference after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of last year’s...

News

Ivacko: Challenges abound as leaders assemble for Mackinac Policy Conference

Sep 20, 2021

Many of Michigan's business, political and academic movers and shakers are gathering this week for the annual Mackinac Policy Conference after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of last year's event. While the number of people...

Ivacko: Challenges abound as leaders assemble for Mackinac Policy Conference

MPPS in the news

U-M: Most local leaders in Michigan confident in efficacy, safety of COVID vaccines

Aug 17, 2021 WDIV ClickOnDetroit

The majority of local government officials in Michigan have expressed confidence in the effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 available to the public, according to a new survey by the University of...

News

Most Michigan local leaders express confidence in safety, efficacy of COVID vaccines, MPPS shows

Aug 11, 2021

Most Michigan local government officials have been confident in the safety and efficacy of available COVID-19 vaccines, yet leaders' views on vaccine safety are highly correlated with partisanship, according to the spring 2021 wave of the Michigan...

Most Michigan local leaders express confidence in safety, efficacy of COVID vaccines, MPPS shows

CLOSUP Updates

MPPS Report: Local leaders’ views on Michigan’s initial COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Spring 2021

Aug 11, 2021

A new report from the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS) presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders during the spring of 2021 regarding COVID-19 vaccines, including information on local government actions to support the rollout...

Hand injecting covid-19 vaccine into virus

In the Media

Schwarz comments on medical group donations to Republican lawmakers

Feb 16, 2021 The Detroit News

Despite the fact that some Michigan Republicans flout health protocols promoted by the state, medical groups, and hospitals, health care interest groups still contributed more to Michigan Republicans than Democrats. Joe Schwarz, former Republican...

Schwarz comments on medical group donations to Republican lawmakers

Publication

Policy memo: Leiser and Ivacko on "State and local governments as partners in our national recovery"

Jan 25, 2021

As the Biden administration embarks on its first hundred days, experts from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy have produced a series of policy briefs on key issues. Download the PDF of this brief or read the web-formatted version...

COVID-19 Fiscal Strategy and Resource Guides for Local Governments produced by CLOSUP and partners

In the Media

Gerber and Morenoff seek to understand vaccine hesitancy in Detroit

Jan 25, 2021 Model D

"It really jumped out that for people of color in general, and Blacks specifically, how important it is to get a [vaccination] recommendation from a health care provider or government health officials," said Jeffrey Morenoff, commenting on findings...

Gerber and Morenoff seek to understand vaccine hesitancy in Detroit

CLOSUP Updates

MPPS Report: COVID-19 pandemic sparks Michigan local leaders’ concerns for fiscal health

Dec 14, 2020

This report presents Michigan local government leaders’ assessments of their jurisdictions’ fiscal conditions and the actions they plan to take in the coming year given their financial situations. The findings are based on responses from 12...

In the Media

How MSU is helping support Michigan during the pandemic

Oct 19, 2020 Crain's Detroit Business

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CLOSUP Updates

October 9 virtual event: Jocelyn Benson And Frank LaRose On Voter Turnout And Access In Ohio And Michigan

Oct 5, 2020

The Ford School invites you to join us for a conversation on voting rights and voter access, featuring Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose. Jenna Bednar, Professor of Political Science and Public...

In the Media

CLOSUP survey shows low and slipping confidence in accuracy of Michigan's 2020 Census

Sep 18, 2020 Bridge Michigan

Only five percent of local officials in Michigan surveyed have expressed strong confidence in the Census’ completeness or accuracy, according to the Spring 2020 Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS), which is conducted annually by the Center for...

CLOSUP report: Mixed signals in local government fiscal health across Michigan