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#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of Michigan podcast

Citizens Research Council of Michigan

Podcast by Citizens Research Council of Michigan

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00:25:57

The FY26 budget makes big strides in funding, but a...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/10/10

A Research Council Podcast Roundtable: Michigan’s 2025 Budget BreakdownIn a first-ever roundtable edition of the #FactsMatter podcast, Guy Gordon recaps recent budget conversations and even more recent updates from the finally passed and long-overdue Michigan budget with the Research Council’s Eric Lupher, president; Craig Thiel, research director; Bob Schneider, senior state affairs associate; and research associates Karley Abramson, health policy; and Eric Paul Dennis, infrastructure. First up

00:25:01

Michigan’s “potholes and pot” budget tackles how we...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/10/10

Guy Gordon and Bob Schneider, Citizens Research Council’s senior research associate for state affairs, look at what is in the final state budget, signed into law this week by Governor Whitmer, from both the 30,000 foot level and the nitty gritty level, digging into some of the elements that didn’t receive much attention. Calling it the Michigan ‘Potholes and Pot’ budget, Guy and Bob discuss how the budget finally tries to start addressing how Michigan funds roads by removing the confusing sales tax

00:21:48

Without renewal of healthcare tax credits, premiums...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/09/24

Karley Abramson, health policy associate for the Research Council, speaks with Guy about her most recent paper, Upcoming Changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Tax Credits Will Also Disrupt Michigan’s Health Care System, which details how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would likely result in about 200,000 fewer Michiganders having health care, including about 100,000 who will become uninsured because Congress did not renew or extend the Enhanced Premium Tax Credit (EPTC). The other half are

00:25:17

Disappointing early results from Michigan’s efforts...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/09/16

Guy speaks with Senior Research Director Craig Thiel about his recent issue brief looking at Michigan’s efforts to improve early literacy among low-income students, with increased funding and accountability measures. Unfortunately, while the data is still relatively new, the state’s efforts are not yielding hoped-for results.While Michigan student test scores in several other grades and subjects have shown important (albeit gradual) improvements since the COVID-19 pandemic, the reading proficiency

00:23:47

Michigan's a home rule state...but it doesn't allow...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/09/11

Guy and Eric Lupher delve into the weeds, discussing the pros and cons — more pros — of allowing local units of government in Michigan to have a local tax option. Michigan is one of just a few states that doesn't allow local governments to levy a local tax without state legislative approval. Most states, including those with conservative leadership such as Indiana and Ohio, provide multiple means for their local governments to raise revenue for their local communities.One unintended consequence of

00:25:46

From Events to Equity: Evaluating Admissions Taxes...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/09/05

Guy Gordon chats with Citizens Research Council president Eric Lupher about his study examining how an admissions tax on sports and entertainment venues could help offset some of the costs of providing public services that support these venues and their visitors. The study, commissioned by the City of Detroit’s Legislative Policy Division, focuses not only on Detroit but also on several other Michigan cities that could benefit from revenues generated by an admissions tax. These revenues could be

00:20:21

No More Free Lunch for All: Lack of State Budget...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/08/27

#FactsMatter host Guy Gordon chats with Craig Thiel, Research Director for the Citizens Research Council, who first wrote about the impact of state budget uncertainty on Michigan’s $200 million School Meals program back in June –before passage of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). Michigan’s two-year-old School Meals program guaranteed universal access to free school breakfast and lunch to all K-12 students across the state, regardless of their income status.The continued lack of

00:23:31

“In the Weeds” – a new Citizens Research Council...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/08/20

Put on your tick spray because we are headed into the weeds! Announcing “In the Weeds,” a new occasional podcast from the Citizens Research Council of Michigan Universe. As described by our host, broadcast giant Guy Gordon, In the Weeds is for “those who are a little wonkier, a little nerdier, and who want to dive deeper” into public policy issues discussed on our regular #FactsMatter podcast.Joining Guy in the weeds for this first podcast is Research Council infrastructure analyst is Eric Paul

00:24:42

Other states get bigger bangs for their road...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/08/15

Veteran newscast journalist Guy Gordon speaks with award-winning infrastructure analyst for the Citizens Research Council, Eric Paul Dennis, about his latest update on Michigan’s roads conditions and funding levels. Their conversation covered a lot of, ahem, road, including m road conditions haven’t improved; road funding slightly improved; the challenges of creating a national road funding and pavement quality index; reasons for shortfalls and inefficiencies, the challenges of reforming Michigan’s

00:24:35

One Big Beautiful Bill Creates One Billion Hit to...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/07/30

Budget Currently Being Hashed Out by Legislators to Decline by $1.1 Billion; OBBBA to Eat 40% of Expected General Fund Growth by FY2032The Citizens Research Council today released an analysis of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), the massive federal legislation signed into law earlier this month that touches nearly every corner of the federal government. The analysis focuses on the likely short- and long-term impacts of OBBBA provisions on Michigan’s budget outlook. Key provisions of

00:36:42

Federal Medicaid Cuts Will Have Big Consequences in...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/06/27

As policymakers in Washington debate major legislation that, as written, would significantly reduce federal spending on Medicaid, Citizens Research Council released a brief primer on Medicaid in Michigan and the impact of those proposed cuts.Research Council Health Policy Associate Karley Abramson, the author of the paper, discusses the human and economic impacts of the proposed cuts with Research Council President, Eric Lupher. Senior Research Associate for State Affairs Bob Schneider joined

00:21:44

Forecast for Michigan's Economy: Uncertainty,...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/05/20

Happy CREC Day! Catch up quickly with Research Council Director Craig Thiel and Senior Research Associate for State Affairs Bob Schneider as they take a few minutes to highlight key takeaways from Michigan's Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference (CREC), held Friday, May 16.

00:28:06

Michigan roads rank 40 nationally. Lawmakers should...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/04/02

Detroit News politics editor and columnist Chad Livengood sits down with Citizen Research Council’s infrastructure analyst Eric Paul Dennis, PE, discussing the Research Council’s most recently released, 86-page paper: "Data-Driven Assessment of Michigan’s Road Program" which makes the case that Michigan legislators should overhaul the way the state divvies up money for road improvements.The report was released as there is currently a push by state leaders to find billions of dollars in additional

00:18:05

New report: Michigan’s roads rank 40th in U.S....

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/03/31

Vic McCarty of the Vic McCarty Morning Show, WTCM Traverse City, interviews Eric Lupher, president of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, which last week released novel research making the case that much more work is needed on the road funding issue than just securing more resources for roads and bridges. In a Nutshell: Michigan ranks 30th among all 50 states in road and 40th in road system conditions. Michigan’s road program performance has declined between 2004 and 2024. Policy

00:23:09

Michigan has an underperforming road system. Road...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/03/10

Infrastructure research associate Eric Paul Dennis and senior research associate for state affair Bob Schneider catch up with Clara Hendrickson, politics reporter for the Detroit Free Press, to discuss the state of Michigan’s roads, the latest two road funding “frameworks” put forward by Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Speaker Matt Hall, how they differ and who or what the different revenue-raising proposals would hit the hardest.

00:20:25

Would Reforming the Use of Earmarks in Statute Be the...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/02/13

John Lindstrom and Bob Schneider discuss a topic that has been popping up increasingly among Michigan lawmakers lately: transparency and reforming the use of budget earmarks … especially “11th hour” earmarks.Lindstrom, a former reporter, editor, and publisher of Gongwer News Service, and Schneider, senior research associate for state affairs at the Citizens Research Council recall the history of end-of-session budget earmarks. “This is nothing new,” said Lindstrom. “I mean, you go back to when I

00:23:56

Governor Recommends Funding Bumps for Students, New...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/02/06

On this week's FactsMatter podcast, hear Citizens Research Council Senior Research Associate Bob Schneider and Ryan Wrecker of WWJ Radio in Detroit chat about the hot-off-the-press Executive Budget for fiscal years 2026-27. They discuss everything from "where's the road funding" to K-12, new "sin" taxes on vaping and patches to yet another initiative designed to cast more sunshine and transparency on state budget earmarks ... aka: pork projects. Catch up on it all in just 25 minutes!

00:17:38

Increased State Revenue Estimates for FY25 and FY26...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2025/01/10

Citizens Research Council Senior Research Associate Bob Schneider sat down today with Research Director Craig Thiel following today’s Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference (CREC) to discuss updated economic and revenue forecasts and analyze what they could mean for Michigan’s current and future budgets.Officials from the Department of Treasury and legislative fiscal agencies agreed that Michigan’s combined General and School Aid Funds will receive an additional $769 million in FY2025 and an

00:17:41

From $35M in Unpaid Bills to No Receipts: It’s Past...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2024/10/04

Citizens Research Council health policy analyst Karley Abramson is interviewed by guest host Andrew Minegar, a reporter with MIRS News. Last year, Abramson wondered why there was a stark rise in healthcare spending by the Michigan Department of Corrections, one of state government's largest general fund budgets. In subsequently published research, she discovered that there was no data to review. Minegar/MIRS News recently uncovered and reported that the state's former prisoners' healthcare

00:22:26

K-12 Budget Passes with Drama; Inequitable Per-Pupil...

#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of... ·

2024/06/28

Gongwer News administration reporter Lily Guiney speaks with Senior Research Director Craig Thiel about his recently published, novel analysis of school-level spending patterns across the largest districts in the state, showing many schools are not being funded equitably. Approximately 55 percent of schools in the state's largest districts do not receive equitable per-pupil funding at the state, local and federal levels. This is at odds with the current school funding policy priorities of Lansing

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#FactsMatter, the Citizens Research Council of Michigan podcast

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