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A grayer Michigan: How the aging of the Mitten State will impact public policy

Father and son walking down the sidewalk with the skyline of Detroit in the background.

Demographer Kurt Metzger   As we enter into this midterm election season, policymakers and the public are grappling with issues that will chart Michigan’s course for years to come. But just what will that future Michigan look like? Who will be living here, and how will policy developed today serve those future residents? While no […]

Social impact bonds: A new financing tool for public-private partnerships

Aerial photo of vineyard in Michigan.

  PSC’s Jeff Guilfoyle writes about what’s possible with social impact bonds (SIBs). Mr. Guilfoyle specializes in school finance, tax policy, intergovernmental fiscal relations, and issues pertaining to Michigan’s economy and the state budget.   Social Impact Bonds 101 ‘Government’ and ‘innovation’ aren’t terms that usually go together. So it might come as a bit […]

Q&A: Place-based education expert Dr. Doris Terry Williams

Aerial photo of downtown Mason, Michigan with the courthouse rising above the trees.

On November 6, hundreds of educators and community leaders will converge in Grand Rapids, Michigan to kick off the 2014 Great Lakes Place-based Education Conference. This fourth annual conference will bring educators from across the state together to share best practices for making school curricula relevant to students’ communities. Dr. Doris Terry Williams is the […]

26th Glenn Allen, Jr. Memorial Election Contest

The 26th Glenn Allen, Jr. Memorial Election Contest is now open! This game of skill was created in 1964 by Judge Allen and is the longest running election prediction contest in the state. Entries are accepted online through 9pm on Monday, November 3, 2014. Good luck! Click here for survey.

Oral health initiative helps Michigan kids smile

Father and son walking down the sidewalk with the skyline of Detroit in the background.

  Michigan’s children are suffering a dental crisis. To help address the crisis, Public Sector Consultants is helping the dental insurance provider Delta Dental to develop a campaign called the Brighter Futures initiative.  The problem is stark. More than a quarter of the state’s third-grade children, 27.1 percent, now struggle with untreated dental disease, according […]

Q&A with Dan Wyant, Director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality

Aerial photo of rapids, cliffs, and waterfalls in a Michigan river.

Dan Wyant   On June 2, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a new proposed rule under the Clean Air Act that will regulate carbon emissions from new and existing power plants. The rules require states to reduce their overall carbon emissions to 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Targets for carbon reduction vary […]

PSC resumes public opinion polling

Aerial photo of downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan.

  Public Sector Consultants is launching this month a new polling partnership to assess the views of likely voters on key topics in Michigan. The quarterly poll restores a PSC tradition. The firm once regularly published the Public Opinion Monitor, which tracked public views on pressing state issues – issues that remain with us today. […]

In The Gears: How PSC’s Amanda Menzies builds consensus for better policy

Downtown Detroit skyline.

  In the June edition of Bright Ideas we started In The Gears, a series on how PSC turns the gears on public policy innovation: research and analysis, program implementation, evaluation, and defining problems and solutions through facilitation, strategic counsel, and strategic planning. This is the next installment of the series featuring PSC’s take on facilitation […]