The Michigan Senate passed a budget transparency resolution Monday as lawmakers scrambled to approve a final state budget before a 12:00 a.m. Wednesday deadline.
The measure requires lawmakers to disclose details about any earmarks they request before the items get added to any final budget plan. That means sharing a possible recipient’s name and location, the amount requested, and reasons for the spending.
Under the plan, nonprofits that get money need to be operating within the state for at least the last three years and have a physical office here for at least the past year. Those extra requirements address concerns with funding from past budgets where groups had been slated for funding before they were fully up and running.
The requirements largely mirror ones passed in the Republican-led House of Representatives earlier this year, which the Democratic-controlled Senate resisted at first.
The House requirements set a spring deadline for getting those requests in. No state Senators are named as request sponsors or cosponsors on the House’s list.
The Senate’s plan doesn’t list a deadline, and it allows lawmakers to become a cosponsor until the final budget is done.
Senate Democrats didn’t offer any comment on the measure to reporters after session Monday. But House Appropriations Committee Chair Ann Bollin (R-Brighton) sent out a press release celebrating the resolution.
“This is also a critical step forward in our budget negotiations as we approach the October 1 deadline. By ensuring every earmark is subject to public scrutiny, we are reinforcing trust in the budget process and making certain that taxpayer dollars are used wisely and responsibly,” Bollin said in the written statement.
With the state possibly facing a partial government shutdown this week if lawmakers don’t make the October 1 deadline, several details remain in the air.
Last week, the governor and legislative leadership on both sides of the aisle announced the framework for a budget plan that included around $2 billion for road funding.
Part of that money would come from raising taxes on marijuana sales, something the industry and at least some Democrats oppose.
State Senator Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) said he worries it could push people back to the illegal marijuana market, as Michigan’s legal industry is taking off and leading the nation in sales.
“We have the most participation in the legal market in the country. And this is going to drive people back into the black market, back into the hands of criminal gangs, and back into a place where product is not tested. And that's in addition to all the negative impacts of having shops close and job losses and all of that,” Irwin said.
Cannabis industry members are planning a protest against the proposed tax hike at the state Capitol and Senate office building Tuesday.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are still working out specifics of a final spending plan for the state health department, the biggest part of the budget by far.
State Senator Sylvia Santana (D-Detroit) leads the Senate appropriations subcommittee for that budget area. She said she spent long hours over the weekend in negotiations.
Santana said lawmakers are still working out what federal policy changes for things like Medicaid eligibility mean for Michigan’s budget. It’s likely the work won’t be done, even after the current spending plan passes.
“We’ve still got a lot of things that are on the horizon. So I think that hopefully we can get through this budget cycle and start working on the next one right away, because we know it's going to be difficult with all the reductions at the federal level,” Santana said.
It’s also possible lawmakers will consider a way to keep the state’s lights on in the short-term while figuring out the nitty gritty details in a future spending bill. Regardless of the path, Tuesday is likely to be a long day (and night) at the Capitol.
