Link to real-time voting

Results of the West Michigan Regional Policy Conference real-time voting session can be seen here: 

Results of real-time voting session (4.5 MB, PDF)

This information will be reviewed and prioritized by the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the West Michigan Chamber Coalition leadership. This is the first step toward setting a core list of final policy recommendations, which will be made public in the next 45 to 60 days.

Regional Policy Conference overview

During voting audience members were given the opportunity to tally their opinions on the following three themes and seven subject areas. They voted on intensity of each subject and ranked which were most important. Here are the final results by subject areas:

Themes:

• Economic Growth
  
• Attraction and Retention of Businesses
  
• Improve Government Functions

Seven Subject Areas:

• Governance
  
• Workforce of the Future
  
• Michigan’s Education System
  
• Investing in Higher Education
  
• Health Care and Life Sciences
  
• Attraction and Retention of Talent
  
• Manufacturing and Design for the Future

Governance:

• Government Collaboration
  
• Reform State Spending and Revenue Streams
  
• Reform the structure of Michigan’s legislature

Governance topic rankings in descending order of intensity:

• Reform State Spending and Revenue Streams
  
• Government Collaboration
  
• Reform the structure of Michigan’s legislature

Ways to reform state spending and revenue streams:

• Eliminate the MBT with corresponding spending cuts: 75 percent of the vote
  
• The state employee health care and retirement costs to an incentive plan based on the economic performance of the state: 21 percent
  
• Reduce state spending across all budgets by 10 percent: 4 percent

Workforce of the Future:

• Incentivize retraining of workers
  
• Eliminate artificial wage setting
  
• Remove mandatory union membership requirements

Topic rankings:

• Remove mandatory union membership requirements
  
• Eliminate artificial wage setting
  
• Incentivize retraining of workers

Ways to remove mandatory union membership requirements:

• Implement a right-to-work status for Michigan: 77 percent of votes
  
• Oppose union efforts to remove secret ballot votes: 14 percent of votes
  
• Prohibit striking by public employees: 9 percent of votes

Michigan’s Education System:

• Incentivize school consolidation
  
• Align Michigan’s curriculum with the needs of emerging industries
  
• Institute public school spending reductions

Topic Rankings:

• Align Michigan’s curriculum with the needs of emerging industries
  
• Incentivize school consolidation
  
• Institute public school spending reductions

Ways to align Michigan’s curriculum with the needs of emerging industries:

• Align Michigan’s graduation requirement for a foreign language with emerging global markets: 30 percent of votes.
  
• Provide financial incentives to school districts which offer industry specific academies: 40 percent
  
• Expand required teacher continuing education credits to include in-site training with employers: 30 percent.

Investing in Higher Education:

• Increase student diversity
  
• Improve coordination among higher education institutions and secondary education systems
  
• Create philanthropic and partnership incentives

Topic Rankings:

• Improve coordination among higher education institutions and secondary education systems
  
• Create philanthropic and partnership incentives
  
• Increase student diversity

Ways to improving coordination among higher education institutions and secondary education systems:

• Consolidate Michigan’s public universities: 16 percent of votes.
  
• Allow college credit for high school student technical certifications: 32 percent
  
• Create additional incentives for high school students entering dual enrollment programs: 52 percent.

Health Care and Life Sciences:

• Align medical payment rates with provider performance and costs
  
• Decrease the rising cost of care
  
• Incentivize new research and product development technologies

Topic Rankings:

• Align medical payment rates with provider performance and costs
  
• Decrease the rising cost of care
  
• Incentivize new research and product development technologies

Ways to align medical payment rates with provider performance and costs:

• Increase Medicaid payments to physicians to improve access: 9 percent of votes.
  
• Standardize cost recovery payments to all hospitals who provide uncompensated care: 19 percent.
  
• Increase funding for providers with effective prevention practices: 72 percent.

Attraction and Retention of Talent:

• Re-prioritize local governments development plans
  
• Enhance investment in state transportation infrastructure
  
• Coordinated campaigns to attract professionals to the region

Topic rankings:

• Enhance investment in state transportation infrastructure
  
• Coordinated campaigns to attract professionals to the region
  
• Re-prioritize local governments development plans

Ways to enhance investment in state transportation infrastructure:

• Support the creation of regional transit systems: 32 percent of votes.
  
• Increase connectivity through stronger regional airports: 28 percent.
  
• Update funding mechanisms for transportation infrastructure: 40 percent.

Manufacturing and Design For Future:

• Create a tax structure to reward capital investments
  
• Incentives for energy innovation
  
• Streamline the state regulatory environment

Topic Rankings:

• Streamline the state regulatory environment
  
• Create a tax structure to reward capital investments
  
• Incentives for energy innovation

Ways to streamlining the state regulatory environment:

• Streamline the permitting process within state government: 45 percent of votes.
  
• Remove visa barriers to attract and retain foreign skilled workers: 42 percent.
  
• Effective “business ombudsman” from the private sector for state departments: 13 percent.
  

Action needed Now: Results of the voting

Here are the directives coming out of the Regional Policy Conference, in the order of importance:

1.The state government must eliminate the Michigan Business Tax and implement corresponding spending cuts.

2. Implement Right-to-Work in Michigan.

3. In health care, increase funding for providers who offer effective prevention practices.

4. To improve manufacturing/design for the future, streamline the state government permits processes.

5.To attract and retain talented employees to Michigan, “update funding mechanisms for transportation infrastructure.”

Top five issues selected

Attendees at the Regional Policy Conference voted early this afternoon, identifying the top five issues to come out of the conference:

1. Eliminating or revising the MBT
2. Making Michigan a Right To Work state
3. Increasing certain types of funding in the Health Care sector
4. Streamlining the permit process
5. Attracting and retaining a young and talented workforce