Leaders across Michigan are calling for action to reverse the state’s decline in prosperity. Achieving lasting progress will require more than broad strategies. It will demand targeted, evidence-based approaches that give support and resources to local communities to pursue the most beneficial local pathway to help the state reach its overall goal of a prosperous state.

Data-analytical tools like the Opportunity Atlas offer valuable observations and can assist in building a path forward. They allow policymakers to identify successful tactics while also pinpointing where interventions are most needed. While factors such as family values and individual choices play a role, analyzing patterns of success, particularly among low-income populations, can provide valuable guidance in designing programs for long term success.

By leveraging these insights, Michigan’s policymakers can design smarter policies, replicate effective programs, and accelerate upward mobility across communities. The opportunity exists not only to grow the state’s economy, but to ensure that growth is shared more widely among its residents.

In a Nutshell

-- Michigan’s path to prosperity is not only formidable, but also multifaceted. Attracting capital investment, developing a skilled workforce, improving educational attainment, and building thriving communities are all strategies widely recognized as essential to improving upward mobility for the state’s residents.

-- The most effective tactics are aligned with the specific circumstances in individual communities. Identifying which communities require which interventions is crucial for maximizing policy impact. State policymakers should take on the analysis, share strategies, and assist local community leaders with implementing locally-tailored programs for greatest success.

-- Recently developed tools provide access to data that give insights into which strategies would most benefit a particular community. Michigan community leaders can design smarter policies using these data analysis tools and replicate effective programs to accelerate economic mobility across communities. By building greater upward mobility from the local level up, Michigan has the opportunity to grow the state’s economy and ensure that growth is shared broadly among its residents.

The Research Council released the 11th in a series of 15 reports providing information to Michigan voters ahead of the November ballot question on whether a constitutional convention (con-con) should be held.

Article VIII-Education addresses elementary and secondary education (K-12) as well as higher education (community colleges and four-year universities). The article has been targeted for amendment five times since the adoption of the 1963 Michigan Constitution and has been amended only twice.

Article VIII would likely garner substantial attention if a constitutional convention is called. Among the most salient and pressing topics a convention could consider are: defining education as a fundamental right; establishing adequacy or quality standards for K–12 education; creating constitutional school-funding guarantees; addressing charter schools, school choice, or public funding of nonpublic education; and modifying governance systems for K–12 education, four-year universities, and community colleges.

A future constitutional convention would likely bring renewed attention to whether Michigan’s education article should continue to rely on broad legislative discretion or be revised to establish clearer constitutional commitments regarding educational opportunity, school quality, funding adequacy, public and private school choice, and governance accountability.

Citizens Research Council of Michigan was recognized by the Governmental Research Association (GRA) with the prestigious Outstanding Policy Achievement, which recognizes tangible improvements in public policy, management, service delivery, and/or cost savings resulting from the research and recommendations of a governmental research agency or individual GRA member. The award may also take into account the qualitative characteristics of the relevant research.

This is the fourth consecutive year the Research Council has been honored with GRA recognition.

The Research Council was recognized for its breadth of work on "Promoting Budget Reform: Legislative Earmarks."

The GRA recognized the throughline between the Research Council’s work on state budgets and pork barrel spending and its subsequent policy recommendations to put new constraints on earmarking, aka “pork barrel spending,” in the state budget process.

"All of the entries in this category were excellent," said Dr. Joe Adams, research coordinator for Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, on behalf of GRA. "As a group, we sided with the idea that policy achievement would require a sense of completion. Citizens Research Council appeared to achieve what they set out to do."

Detroit Future City and the Citizens Research Council of Michigan have developed a nonpartisan Detroit Issues Guide 2026 to help Detroit residents better understand how state and local government decisions affect the issues they care about most—including housing, public transit, public education, taxes and business attraction, and crime and public safety. Designed to encourage informed civic engagement and support voter participation, the guide provides factual context around each issue.

This guide is part of a broader voter education effort led by the Detroit Early Voting Coalition, a collective of organizations dedicated to increasing civic engagement and voter literacy in Detroit. The coalition has launched Detroit’s Early Voting Challenge, a competition that encourages Detroiters to beat their neighborhoods to the polls during the in-person early voting period. Residents can visit early.onecivic.org to see how many people in each district have voted. CIVIC reports: "Thursday, July 30 was the highest in-person, early voting turnout day, so keep up the good work!"

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