Read Jim Townsend’s newest op-ed piece in The Detroit News entitled “Growing Michigan’s population should be a bipartisan process.”
Excerpt
During my first run for the state Legislature back in 2010, I put out a campaign flyer calling for investments in regional public transit, public education and vibrant communities that can attract and retain talent and jobs.
Our two boys were in elementary and middle school then. Now they’re college graduates, and most of the time, seeing them means traveling to other parts of the country that continue to draw many Michigan residents seeking economic opportunities and public amenities that we’re still struggling to provide here.
In fact, the Great Lakes State ranks 49 out of the 50 states in population growth.
And while Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Growing Michigan Together Council’s (GMTC) report offers a valuable collection of data and proposals for addressing the population problem, a lot of their ideas sound familiar — as does the partisan sniping that accompanied its release.
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