Debra Horner

Debra Horner is on staff with the Ford School's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) where she is a project manager on the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS) program. She has been a regular lecturer in U-M's Political Science Department for over a decade and also teaches a course on Michigan politics and policy at the Ford School. Horner's primary areas of research focus on individuals' political attitudes and political participation, as well as policymaking at the state and local levels in Michigan. She received her undergraduate degree from Duke University and her doctorate in political science from the University of Michigan in 2007.

U.P. local government leaders identify challenges in getting state and federal grants

The article we are sharing from University of Michigan’s CLOSUP center addresses the struggle of local governments in Michigan, particularly in the Upper Peninsula, in utilizing federal funding opportunities from recent legislation like the ARPA and IIJA.

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Surprise: U.P. local government leaders buck the trend and report some improvement in state-local relations since 2016

According to research by University of Michigan’s CLOSUP center, the Upper Peninsula is defying statewide trends with improved state-local relations since 2016. The following article contains insights on this unique dynamic in regional governance.

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