Tom Watkins has written a very interesting article in Dome Magazine (online) about how to get the leadership of downstate Michigan and the Upper Peninsula to work together on an rural policy for Michigan--Michigan clearly has an urban policy that is evidenced by its state appropriations, regulatory and statutory policies enacted over the past few decades. This is not the case for rural Michigan--mainly the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan (north of Clare). Of course there have been state policies that benefited rural areas but not necessarily to the same degree as those that benefit urban areas--content, state funding and/or economic/human impact.
The questions raised here are how do we get the statewide leadership to work together--the legislature, local governments, business and labor leaders, faith leaders, education leaders, etc.. Leaders from the rural areas have a good idea of what they need in their communities, as do the urban leaders. What needs to happen is before future governors and legislators begin debating and passing public policies advocated by urban area leaders they should ask some questions: "how does this impact rural areas; what could we add to this proposal that would assist in rural areas and support a state rural policy; why should this public policy pass without an equal or relevant public policy that is beneficial to rural areas, etc., etc... Same questions should be asked when the legislature or a governor is about to consider a public policy that is proposed by rural area leaders.
As rural area voters consider who to vote for in 2018 primary and general elections they should ask the candidates what is your proposal for a rural policy agenda, how would you implement it, how would you pay for it and how would you get urban leadership (in the private and public sectors--the public square) to support your proposals? Ask the candidates for Governor and US Senate what are their specific proposals and plans. No generalities. No political blah, blah. Assure that they have specifics when they speak at political gathering and insist that they develop written proposals that rural voters can review before they vote for him or her. Rural voters should not vote for candidates who do not have a commitment to a rural policy that they developed with real area residents and they are committed to implemented.
Read the Watkins article below. What ideas do you have that should be included in a Michigan rural policy and how to implement your ideas. The Watkins article is a good beginning.