Maybe Michigan doesn’t want to grow its population.
It’s been nearly eight months since the Michigan Growth and Coexistence Council, commissioned by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, released a comprehensive report on how to make Michigan a faster-growing, more prosperous state.
But some say they are disappointed by the lack of urgency in addressing the state’s toughest economic problems.
Eric Rufer, president of the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council of Michigan, said after the Growth Council submitted its report, the Whitmer administration appeared to be taking a “let’s strike while the iron is hot” stance.
“I haven’t seen that happen. The pieces coming out of the report seem to have momentum,” Rufer told me, “but it’s certainly not moving fast enough.”
New state office focuses on Michigan’s population growth
Governor Whitmer dissolved the Growth Council earlier this month, saying its work had been completed. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation then established the Michigan Growth Agency, reportedly using four existing Michigan Economic Development Corporation employees. The agency is led by Chief Growth Officer Hillary Doe.
In a news release, the MEDC pointed to several key state budgets for fiscal year 2025 to spur growth, including $60 million to support startup businesses, $30 million for college scholarships, $100 million for affordable housing and $75 million to enhance public transportation.
When the Growing Michigan Together Council released its report in December, Democratic co-chair Shirley Stancato called Michigan’s population stagnation an “ongoing crisis.”
“We rank 49th in population growth, and our K-12 education outcomes lag behind other states with higher growth rates,” said Stancato, who also serves as chairman of the Wayne State University Board of Trustees. “The challenges facing the state are not new, but it is critical that we take action now.”
That won’t happen, according to John Rakolta, Republican co-chair of the Growth Council, who told The Detroit News in April that the report “will just sit on a shelf somewhere and never see the light of day again.”
Longtime demographer Kurt Metzger said the Whitmer administration should use the report as a blueprint for growth, with established metrics and a timeline for reaching the goals.
“All state investment and spending should be tied to this plan,” he told me.
The report offers dozens of recommendations on how to grow the state’s population, narrowing it down to three broad areas: developing a lifelong education system, creating a “transformative economic growth strategy” that establishes Michigan as the “innovation capital of the Midwest,” and building “vibrant, resilient communities that attract young talent.”
These communities are walkable, transit-oriented, and feature other amenities that young graduates desire.
A bill introduced by Democratic lawmakers would provide funding for such projects, but it has stalled in Congress.
The bill would allocate $600 million per year to the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) Fund, the state’s main economic development fund, with $350 million of that allocated to transportation, housing and place development.
This would mark a major shift in the state’s economic development incentives, which have traditionally been focused on encouraging investment in Michigan.
But the House and Senate failed to pass the bill before lawmakers recessed for the summer, and it’s unclear how it will pass when they return in September. Governor Whitmer has been said to be cold toward the idea of cutting SOAR funding, which is used to attract business investment.
“That’s the question,” Rufer said. “Governor Whitmer doesn’t support a shift in economic development policy. How long are we going to continue to go after low-wage, blue-collar workers? [factory] Why not make an effort to create “high paying jobs that require a four year degree” but not high paying jobs that require a four year degree?
Rufer acknowledged that significant population growth won’t happen overnight: Michigan’s share of the U.S. population has been declining for more than 50 years, and it will take years to reverse that trend.
But Rufer said with Gov. Whitmer in a lame duck state next year, now may be the perfect time to bring laser-like focus to population issues.
“It’s probably not surprising” that there hasn’t been much progress on population so far, Rufer said, “but if this is her issue, this is the year to get it done.”
Maybe 10 million is the right number. To me, it’s not necessarily about growing the population, it’s about bringing Michigan back to being a more prosperous state.
“The population of the state is 100 percent rural,” Eric Rufer, president of the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council of Michigan, said of the state’s population.
Rufer also agreed with me that Michigan voters don’t seem to think it’s a big deal that the state’s population has been stagnant at around 10 million for years.
Affordable housing projects are often thwarted by NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) sentiment, and Michigan’s few growing cities, such as Traverse City, often face backlash against their growth.
“Probably 10 million is the right number,” he said. “To me, it’s not necessarily about growing the population, it’s about bringing Michigan back to being a more prosperous state.”
The problem, he said, is the age makeup of Michigan’s population.
In 1980, 60 percent of the state’s residents were under 35. That percentage is expected to fall to 41 percent by 2045 unless the state can attract more young people to join the workforce, according to a study prepared for the Growth Council.
If Michigan is in a “crisis” of population, education and prosperity, as Stancato puts it, policymakers need to act accordingly.
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is often credited with saying something relevant to Michigan’s challenges, but it was actually spoken 20 years ago by Stanford economist Paul Romer, who was expressing concern that the United States was falling behind other countries in educational achievement.
“The worst thing you can do is let a crisis go to waste,” Romer said.
