A challenge to a common, controversial and expensive part of the state budget process will be heard Tuesday by a Michigan Court of Claims judge.
The lawsuit was filed by the Mackinac Center, a free market think tank. It argues the House and Senate circumvented the Michigan Constitution’s requirement that appropriations meant for specific local projects must be adopted by two-thirds supermajorities.
“Michigan’s budget process fell short of the transparency and accountability that taxpayers deserve,” said Patrick Wright with the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation in a statement made when the lawsuit was filed in June. “Too often, decisions were made behind closed doors, shaped by political connections rather than the broader public interest. Greater transparency and following the supermajority voting requirement would help ensure that state spending reflects the priorities of all Michigan residents, not just a select few.”
The lawsuit claims the Legislature dodges that standard by creating criteria so narrow the money can only be meant for a singular purpose, even if the recipient is not specifically named. In this case, that would be a total of $3 million for sports stadiums in Lansing and Utica.
Robert Schneider with the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council of Michigan said such allocations have long been a standard practice in Lansing.
“But that does seem to be a workaround of the plain reading of the language that’s in the Constitution,” he told MPRN.
The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity is the named defendant. In its brief arguing against a preliminary injunction, the department argued the Mackinac Center cherry-picked two appropriations out of the entire budget and filed its lawsuit against the wrong target.
“The Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) did not enact the appropriations; did not choose the grant recipients; and does not have discretion in how the grants are administered,” it said. “LEO is simply the vehicle through which the funds are to be expended, and it must comply with the conditions set by the Legislature.”
The lawsuit asks the court to block the expenditures. The arguments will be heard by Michigan Court of Claims Judge Brock Schwartzle, who has a working knowledge of the issues as a former legal counsel for the state House Republican majority.
