When Rick Snyder was elected governor in 2010 the state ranked dead last in economic growth and employment in a Business Leaders for Michigan report. It had spent most of the previous 10 years in a single-state recession, the infamous “Lost Decade” that saw its residents, jobs and opportunities marching off to other places.

Snyder and a Republican Legislature put in place an aggressive plan to improve Michigan’s competitiveness. By 2021, the state had lifted its BLM ranking to 29th. In 2022, it slipped to 34th, and is at risk of falling further as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the new Democratic legislative majority target the reforms that raised Michigan from the depths.

The change in government priorities is one reason Michigan’s business executives are less likely to recommend the state to their peers than they were a year ago, according to an outlook presented to the Detroit Economic Club last week.

The slippage should be fair warning to Democrats who now control the state. Instead, they are coming out of the gates with a pro-labor agenda that is distressingly similar to the one that contributed to the Lost Decade.

Less than 15% of Michigan workers belong to a labor union, but Democrats seem determined to do 100% of labor’s bidding.

The first major proposals they introduced this month are responses to the demands of their union backers.

Democratic lawmakers first-up want to repeal the right-to-work law put in place in 2013. The law bans compulsory union membership, and similar measures are in place in 27 other states.

It has clearly impacted union membership rolls. But it also is a significant economic development tool. Michigan is struggling to maintain its place as the world’s automotive capitol as the industry transitions to an electric vehicle future. EV siting decisions are being made every day that will shape the future auto-making landscape.

Losing right-to-work will make Michigan less competitive for those investments. Every major business group in the state has warned of the consequences of repealing the law, and yet the governor and legislative leaders are plunging ahead.

Also on the docket is reinstatement of the prevailing wage law, which required contractors on projects funded by the state to pay the prevalent union wage of the communities in which the work is being done.

Prevailing wage laws raise the costs of public works and are a bad deal for taxpayers. They also give union contractors an unfair advantage in competing for state business.

Even the proposed $1 billion in tax relief Democrats are offering has a distinct union slant.

The governor’s proposal is being pitched as a break for retirees, but not all retirees will be treated equally.

Whitmer’s package would roll back the 2011 law signed by Snyder ending the state income tax exemption for public employee pensioners. If passed, those who worked for the state or local governments won’t pay any state income tax on their pensions.

Private sector retirees, however, will still be subject to the state income tax, but the governor promises to raise the amount of their retirement income that is tax exempt.

There’s no defense for treating the two groups of retirees differently, except that most public pensioners were represented by unions, and the Michigan Education Association is demanding the Snyder law be repealed. (Republicans are pitching an alternative that would keep the 2011 law in place but raise the tax-exempt income levels on all retirement earnings for all retirees.)

Michigan did not just stumble into the Lost Decade by accident. It hit rock bottom because it prioritized the demands of special interests over the well-being of all its citizens. It appears again poised to lurch down that same path.

— Detroit News