top of page
Research Service Inc.
Policy Issues


Blanchard: Duggan Wins If Government Shuts Down, Calls Hall's Proposals 'Show Business'
Blanchard: Duggan Wins If Government Shuts Down, Calls Hall's Proposals 'Show Business'
Sep 17, 20254 min read


Children Living In A Tent Dominates Hertel's Hearing
(Source: MIRS.news , Published 09/09/2025) The House Oversight Committee’s questioning Tuesday of Department of Health and Human Services...
Sep 10, 20254 min read


AG Contends Legal Actions Against Trump Admin Preserves $1.8B In Funding
AG's Legal Actions Against Trump Admin Preserves $1.8B In Funding
Sep 8, 20252 min read


Rheingans Proposing Const'l Amendment, Other Legislation To Combat Trump
Rep. Carrie Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor) is proposing a constitutional amendment to require multiple state government branches’ approval before declaring a rebellion or invasion and legislation to prohibit local law enforcement from being used for federal immigration law enforcement. She also pushed for stiffer habeas corpus and Miranda rights.
Sep 8, 20251 min read


Cannabis Industry Set To Fight 'Gas Station Weed'
Gas stations, liquor stores, and vape shops across Michigan have seen the rise in what the Cannabis Regulatory Agency called intoxicating hemp-derived products that the cannabis industry believes are illicit.
Sep 8, 20253 min read


School Bathrooms Designated To Sex Assigned At Birth Under House-Passed Bill
Rep. Joseph Fox (R-Fremont)’s HB 4024 to require schools to enforce individuals to only use the restroom or locker room of their sex assigned at birth passed the House Thursday, 58-46.
Sep 5, 20252 min read


Lack Of Lake Lifeguards Left High and Dry With Committee
Michigan has 3,288 miles of Great Lakes shoreline. Indiana has 45.
Aug 29, 20251 min read


Bathroom Sex Bill Flushed Out Of Committee To Floor
Transgender students would be required to use the school bathroom of their biological sex as written on their original birth certificate under legislation that moved out of a House committee along party lines Wednesday morning.
Aug 28, 20253 min read


Forum: Cannabis Shouldn't Be Treated 'Like It's Plutonium' By Policymakers
State regulators shouldn't treat cannabis “like it's plutonium," but regulate it based on the harms it could cause and not on “archaic” rules, according to Michael Bronstein, co-founder and president of the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp, who spoke at a National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) forum earlier this month.
Aug 25, 20253 min read


No Outside Military In Michigan Without Governor's Approval Under Pohutsky Bill
Unless the President validly invokes the military to come to Michigan, only the Governor has the authority to let armed forces in from another state, territory or district, under legislation spotlighted Thursday y sponsor Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia).
Aug 22, 20251 min read


Suspending Lawmakers' Pay For Missing Budget Deadline Fails In House
The House failed by four votes to adopt a measure that would put on the ballot a constitutional amendment that would withhold the Governor’s and legislators’ pay if they don’t pass a budget for the upcoming fiscal year by the July 1 statutory deadline.
Aug 22, 20255 min read


States in ‘Fairly Strong Position’ at FY '25 End But Challenges Loom
(Source: MIRS.news , Published 08/20/2025) (BOSTON) -- Thanks to strong revenue growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and robust...
Aug 20, 20253 min read


Whitmer Brings Total Public Acts To 9
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed three bills Friday, bringing the total number of bills passed through the Legislature and signed into law in 2025 to nine.
Aug 18, 20251 min read


Crime Is Falling In Michigan, Across the U.S. Despite Public Perception
Contrary to widespread public belief, crime in both Michigan and the United States is on the decline – and has been for years - according to the latest law enforcement and victimization data.
Aug 18, 20252 min read


School Transfer Proposal May Cut Down On 'Ghost Children'
School districts would be blocked from transferring children's records to new schools without written confirmation that the child has been enrolled there, under a bill Oakland County's top public safety officials see as removing a current loophole for hiding child abuse and neglect.
Aug 15, 20253 min read


Natural Resources Commission Commits To Reopen Year-Round Coyote Hunting
The Michigan Natural Resources Commission (NRC) voted Thursday in Gaylord that it “is committed” to reinstating the year-round hunting season on the overpopulated coyote, a reversal in approach from a year ago.
Aug 15, 20253 min read


Deepfake Porn Ban, WorkKeys Exemption For High Schoolers, More Pass Senate
Creating pornographic or sexual deepfakes of someone will result in a $3,000, one-year misdemeanor and possibly a daily $1,000 court-issued injunction if it's not erased, under House bills the Senate moved Wednesday.
Aug 14, 20252 min read


Immaculate Conception Comment Causes Stir
Ideological tensions between conservative Republicans and progressive Democrats exposed themselves Tuesday in a House committee during testimony over revised legislation that would allow unwanted newborns to be deposited in a safety delivery box attached to a hospital, police station or fire station.
Aug 13, 20253 min read


Property Tax Relief Up Next For House Republicans
It's been a whopping 47 years since the Michigan Legislature has seriously tackled property tax relief and another 31 years since it took another look at the Headlee Amendment and Proposal A.
Aug 11, 20252 min read


Foreign Ag Land Ownership Is Up, China's Is Down
While foreign investment in U.S. agricultural land has increased in the last 15 to 20 years, China’s share of that has decreased since 2021 from 383,000 acres to 277,000 acres in 2023, said Danny Munch of the American Farm Bureau Federation.
Aug 7, 20252 min read
bottom of page
