15,000 Michigan kids take two years of kindergarten. Is Lansing listening?
By Ron French (Bridge) One in eight Michigan kindergarteners now take two years of kindergarten. That’s a financial boon to families with young children and schools, but a $127 million bill to the state for an extra year of schooling with unknown academic impact. In essence, families and schools are stepping in where Lansing hasn’t […]
Deal reached between state, townships and Wolverine World Wide over PFAS
By Riley Beggin, (Bridge) Wolverine World Wide has agreed to pay $69.5 million to extend a new municipal water system to Kent County residents in areas affected by PFAS contamination, the company and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday. The deal will also require the company to pay to maintain the whole-house filtration systems installed […]
Michigan trying to quicken insurance approval for drugs, medical treatment
By Robin Erb (Bridge) When her endometriosis flares up, “it feels like a T-rex in my abdomen trying to claw his way out,” said Lyndsey Crosbie. And that’s why, when the disorder is at its worst, the Dearborn woman needs painkillers. Like, now. But last year, when Crosbie, a doctoral candidate in physical therapy, stopped […]
Michigan, we have a budget deal. (Give or take $400 million)
By Riley Beggin (Bridge) LANSING – It’s done. For now. After weeks of stalled negotiations, fallouts and name-calling, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and legislative leaders agreed on a plan to spend more than half of the nearly $1 billion that Whitmer vetoed from the budget and restrict her power to move money within state departments. The House and Senate nearly […]
30-minute guarantee at Michigan Secretary of State — if you have appointment
By Riley Beggin (Bridge) Michiganders can officially get in and out of any Secretary of State branch office in under 30 minutes — with an appointment. For walk-ins, however, long waits are still the norm. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced Thursday that her office had fulfilled a central campaign promise: a guarantee that no […]
Michigan budget breakthrough in works as Whitmer, GOP near deal
By Riley Beggin (Bridge) LANSING – A months-long budget standoff could be nearing an end, as Michigan lawmakers moved bills last Wednesday to reappropriate some $573.5 million of the nearly $1 billion Gov. Gretchen Whitmer line-item vetoed from the state’s 2020 budget. Millions of dollars would be returned to programs that fund rural police patrols, […]
GOP leaders: We won’t halt Michigan Medicaid work requirements
By Riley Beggin (Bridge) LANSING – Michigan Republicans are rebuffing calls from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to postpone Medicaid work rules set to begin Jan. 1, amid a federal lawsuit challenging the policy. Next month, Michigan will require most of the state’s more than 650,000 Medicaid recipients to prove they’re working, in school, amid job training or doing other […]
Opioid addiction treatment just got easier for thousands in Michigan
By Robin Erb (Bridge) Thousands of Michiganders battling opioid addictions are closer to treatment after the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services this week stripped away an administrative barrier to care. The state on Tuesday removed “prior authorization” requirements for medications used to treat opioid use disorder, including buprenorphine, as part of medication-assisted treatment, […]
Community college costs soar in Michigan. Blame sinking state aid.
By Mike Wilkinson (Bridge) In a state that has struggled to increase the number of people with college degrees, the gap between tuition costs at Michigan’s 28 community colleges is widening. At just over $3,000 for a year of classes, Oakland Community College is the least expensive in the state, and it sits in one […]
Enbridge lost rods in the Straits. It didn’t tell Michigan for two months.
By Riley Beggin (Bridge) In mid-September, workers for Enbridge Inc. dug deep, narrow holes to gather rock and soil samples along the lakebed under the Straits of Mackinac as a part of the project to build a tunnel to protect the Line 5 oil pipeline. One of those holes collapsed, leaving 40 feet of thin drilling rod […]
