Michigan House Republicans passed the rest of their $78.5 billion proposal for the state’s next budget Tuesday.
Republicans said the plan, which comes in around $4 billion lower than the current budget, cuts government waste.
The plan would put over $3 billion toward road repairs, limit earmark spending for projects in lawmakers’ districts, and get rid of funding for unfilled positions.
“It’s $5 billion in waste, fraud, and abuse that have been cut out of these budgets and redirected to values that people care about like roads, public safety, and education,” Hall said.
The proposal passed the House with only one Democratic vote, from Representative Karen Whitsett (D-Detroit).
Her colleagues largely panned the budget as going too far, as it would make some deep cuts.
For example, the state health department would lose out on nearly $5 billion compared to the current budget. The state Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity would lose more than $1 billion. Michigan State Police would miss out on around $66 million after House Republicans criticized MSP leadership as ineffective.
“This might be good for red meat in his caucus. But this is unrealistic to think that this is what the people of Michigan want,” House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton) told reporters after the vote.
Representative Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn) argued hundreds of state employees could lose their jobs as part of the Republican plan and that public services could be at risk.
“We can do big things if we choose to work together. Instead, we’re seeing hyper partisan politics rule the day here in Lansing when Michigan families are looking to us for leadership on the cost of living crisis that they’re experiencing every single day. This budget falls short on all of those categories, I don’t find a single silver lining in it,” Farhat said.
The 808 page budget proposal became publicly available around 30 minutes before the vote took place, causing Democrats to raise concerns about the transparency of the process. A last-minute unveiling of state budget proposals and final budget documents isn’t new.
But this year’s House Republican majority has consistently pledged to be more transparent than their predecessors. To that end, legislative directed spending requests were required to be made publicly months ahead of time.
Regarding the lack of budget availability, House Appropriations Chair Ann Bollin (R-Brighton) said this year’s process was just a different kind of transparent.
“We had hearings almost every single week. Hearings that asked questions about programs, about projects, not where you want to go and where you want to spend more. But really getting into the meat and potatoes of whether or not these programs and projects were delivering,” Bollin said.
Next, the House will have to strike a deal with the Democratic Governor and state Senate by October or risk a partial government shutdown.
Earlier Tuesday before announcing the new budget proposal, Hall met with his counterparts in the Senate and Governor Gretchen Whitmer with hopes of advancing that process.
“It was a productive meeting, and our team will stay in close touch with legislators and their staff over the next month to get this done,” a written statement from Whitmer spokesperson Bobby Leddy said.
In her own written statement, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) was less cheerful.
“I have made my disappointments and frustrations about entering September without a House budget proposal abundantly clear. It’s 36 days until October 1, and we have a lot of work to do. It’s work that we can accomplish, but the games and distractions need to end,” Brinks said.
Meanwhile, Hall has accused Democrats in the Senate majority and House minority of slowing the process themselves.
