Ann Arbor to pay D.C. firm up to $200K to study reparations
The city of Ann Arbor will pay between $95,000 and $200,000 to a consultant based in Washington, D.C. for a study of a potential racial reparations program.
Ann Arbor’s City Council voted unanimously June 15 to enter into a contract with Obsidian Research Insights LLC, a consulting agency that was co-founded by Rashawn Ray, a sociology professor from the University of Maryland.
The agency will review city, county, and state-level policies from 1800 to 2020, analyze historical records to identify restrictions on housing and policing, and evaluate impacts on racial harms, according to the 15-page contract that Michigan Capitol Confidential obtained through a records request. Click here to read more.
Biden Bucks: Climate Change Funds a Bonanza for State Outfits
For much of its five-decade history, the Colorado Energy Office was a small department with a handful of employees who supported practical, cost-saving energy conservation measures. From 2010 to 2022, records show, the office received an average of $7 million per year from the U.S. Department of Energy.
All that changed after the Biden administration and Congress approved hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending to provide “a more equitable, low-carbon, and clean energy economy.” In fiscal year 2024, Colorado’s state energy office was slated to receive $157.5 million from the energy department, along with another $156 million from the Environmental Protection Agency. The Biden team’s defeat in the 2024 election didn’t stop the gusher, either, as an additional $60 million in funding was allocated after voters elected Trump and his promise to halt the spending Click here to read more.
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Tequila is optional. Constitutional liquor tax rules aren’t.
If you are celebrating National Tequila Day with a margarita today, the Illinois alcohol tax code probably isn’t top of mind. But the state recently scrapped a proposed new alcohol tax rule that could well have violated the Illinois Constitution.
The Illinois Department of Revenue had proposed generally classifying any product with added spirits as a spirit for tax purposes, regardless of its final alcohol content.
In Illinois, spirits are taxed over six times as much per gallon as wine and 37 times as much as cider and beer.
The department gave notice July 10 that it had pulled the proposal. If it had passed, any canned cocktails with an added spirit or any product with added spirits, such as ice cream infused with bourbon or rum, would have faced the $8.55-per-gallon rate if the final product contained more than 0.5% alcohol by volume. Click here to read more.
17% of Cigarettes Consumed in Michigan Were Smuggled
MIDLAND, Mich. — The Mackinac Center for Public Policy released new data showing that 17% of cigarettes consumed in Michigan during 2024 were smuggled from other states or taxing jurisdictions.
The analysis, produced in partnership with the D.C.-based Tax Foundation since 2008, ranks Michigan 17th among the 48 contiguous states for cigarette smuggling. The state’s smuggling rate has fallen steadily since 2006, when more than 34% of cigarettes consumed were estimated to be illicit. The illicit cigarette trade can be highly profitable, encouraging theft, counterfeiting, and other criminal activity.
The Mackinac Center’s annual study uses a statistical model to estimate the percentage of cigarette consumption that cannot be explained by legally taxed sales. The gap between what should be getting smoked based on federal survey data and what is legally purchased is attributed to tax evasion and avoidance. Click here to read more.
Why criminal referral of Jack Smith was 100% justified
Former Biden administration special counsel Jack Smith is finally facing legal accountability for his abuse of power in his failed effort to defeat President Donald Trump’s candidacy through two sham federal indictments. As part of that process, Smith provided testimony to Congress via deposition, and omitted crucial information necessary for the proper exercise of congressional oversight. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan referred Smith to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution, and Smith should be gravely concerned.
18 U.S.C. § 1001 prohibits making knowingly and willfully false statements during government proceedings. Telling a half-truth is equivalent to making a false statement—a witness cannot omit material information and then claim his testimony was technically accurate. The congressional investigators who deposed Smith warned him of his obligation, consistent with the standard oath all witnesses take: to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God. Click here to read more.
