Local control

Bills introduced in the state House, with bipartisan support, would preempt local decision-making on some zoning issues, including multi-unit housing like duplexes, lot sizes, and dwelling sizes.

Citizens for Local Choice wants local governments to decide whether solar or wind farms can be built instead of state government.

Environmentalists are concerned other municipal tree ordinances could be affected.

A fight is brewing at the state Capitol over whether the Legislature should preempt local rules on expensive rental properties.Local governments and…

Governor Rick Snyder says he would like to give Flint’s mayor "more authority." Flint has been under state oversight since 2011, when Snyder appointed the…

Flint’s new mayor has laid out her priorities for her first hundred days in office. Not surprisingly, the plan largely reflects the issues she stressed in…

Governor Rick Snyder has signed a bill that stops local governments from adopting their own ordinances that cover wages and working conditions.The new law…

State lawmakers have sent Gov. Rick Snyder a bill that would ban local minimum wage and benefit laws. The bill does not apply to ordinances adopted before…

Local minimum wage and benefit ordinances in place before this year would no longer be preempted by a controversial bill in the state Legislature.The…

American public education has a strong tradition of neighborhood schools within locally-controlled school districts. But that’s changed in recent…