We know Michigan’s population is declining. The guv and the legislature has been talking about fixing that for a while, and now we’re starting to see some of the first moves in that direction. Not everyone is a fan, but we’ve gotta do something, and soon.
Here are Five Fast Facts on combating Michigan’s population decline:
- 🤔 Who And What - Gov. Whitmer set up a council a few months ago to study the issue and give recommendations. That council reported on three key problems for the state compared to others: lower median income, less education, and less spending on infrastructure. They proposed a strategy and a goal to address each one, though they stopped short of saying how things should be funded and monitored. ‘Cause, you know, that’s not their thing.
- 💵 Strat #1 - Income - The first priority is to build up Michigan as an innovation hub for entrepreneurs and businesses to create high-paying “knowledge based” jobs, and to support current innovation areas like Grand Rapids’ Medical Mile. This will help bring the median income from 34th in the nation to the top 10.
- 🎓 Strat #2 - Education - Education needs to be a top priority to create a sustainable system for future-ready skills. The state would need to supply adequate funding and ensure accountability to make sure the system was delivering on its promise for Michiganders while still being affordable. This would include college education, as well.
- 🏠🚌 Strat #3 - Housing And Transportation - The council suggested leaning into the state’s low cost of living to help create communities where young workers want to live, as well as transportation systems that allow easy movement all around. If done properly, this could drive Michigan from 20th in talent migration into the top 10.
- ⛔ Opposition - Nineteen of the 21-member council voted in favor of the proposal, but as you might expect, there was some opposition. That opposition warned this was simply a thinly veiled attempt to massively raise taxes across the state, and that most of the things being proposed already had programs or policies in place that were just being executed poorly by the state government. They also noted the lack of specifics for exactly how these things would happen…just saying that they should happen.
🔥Bottom line: These are clearly problems that need to be addressed, so it’s good to see that there is some action being taken. But with the future of the state at stake, we need to make sure we really understand what we’re getting into, and that it’ll have the intended effects. This is the point where we need to get informed and contact our elected reps to let them know what we want them to do!
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