Our POLITICS + POLICY category provides users with an extensive list of articles dealing with past, present, and future issues relating to politics and policy throughout the UP.

Recently Published

CRC: Growing City Tax Rates Approach Rate Limits

The Citizens Research Council recently released a report that examines how municipal property tax rates have changed from 2004 to 2020. In this article, the Michigan CRC explores the extent to which local governments have approached and surpassed tax rate limits.

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Population Decline is Not Inevitable: Evidence from the Northlands

Michael and John Broadway explore how some areas in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota have experienced population increases when most rural areas have continued to see population decreases for much of the last century, and what this means for the Upper Peninsula and economic leaders looking to reverse the out-migration in the UP.

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Catching Up With Brian Chapman, Sault Ste. Marie City Manager

In the latest episode of the Rural Insights Podcast, David Haynes sits down with Brian Chapman, City Manager for Sault Ste. Marie to catch up on the latest issues surrounding municipal finance and rural government.

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Discussing the New Office of Rural Development with Gary McDowell

In the latest episode of the Rural Insights Podcast, David Haynes sits down once again with former U.P. legislator and current director of the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development Gary McDowell to discuss the newly-created Office of Rural Development.

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Max Steele’s Analysis of Earned Income Tax Credit in the Upper Peninsula

In a new paper, NMU student and Rural Insights research contributor Max Steele looks at the unique factors of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula that vary across counties, such as wealth, income, and population, and how those factors affect the applicability of the Earned Income Tax Credit.

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