(The Center Square) – The Republican-controlled Michigan House unanimously passed legislation Wednesday that would ensure additional budget and spending transparency.
House Bill 4420 requires detailed public disclosures for all legislatively-directed spending projects from both the House and Senate, often called pork or earmarks. It also would ban earmarks for for-profit businesses and newly created nonprofits that don’t have an established history in Michigan.
Currently, those projects are often inserted into the state’s budget without disclosures about who is sponsoring them or who is receiving the funding. Recent budgets have included millions in funding for such projects.
“This bill puts transparency into action,” said State Rep. Tom Kunse, R-Clare, who sponsored the legislation. “Taxpayers shouldn’t have to dig through spreadsheets or insider knowledge to find out how their money is being spent. It ensures that every grant is documented and visible to the public from day one.”
Under the bill, proposed earmarked funds would be published on the Department of Technology, Management, and Budget’s website prior to passage for the public to review. Each spending request must be submitted by April 1 to be considered in that year’s budget would need to include the name of the recipient, project location, a detailed timeline and budget, a description of the public benefit, and a conflict-of-interest disclosure.
“Taxpayers expect us to be responsible stewards of their money,” Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Township, said. “This is a transformational step forward that gives the public the clarity they deserve. People will be able to see exactly where their money is going and who is benefiting. That’s how government should work.”
Bollin, as Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, has been instrumental in pushing for a number of budget reforms.
At the beginning of the year, Bollin proposed House Resolution 14, which contains many of the same transparency measures House Bill 4420 would enshrine in law. If the bill is not passed, the adopted resolution could be revoked by the House in the future.
A “renewed focus on fiscal responsibility and government accountability” has been a priority for House Republicans this legislative session, after taking control of the House. That said, they have not received much opposition from House Democrats, who, while not publicly speaking on the issue, all joined with Republicans to pass House Bill 4420.
Bollin said this “only the beginning” of the reforms Republicans plan to put forward.
The bill now moves to the Democrat-controlled Senate for its vote. Speaker of the House Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, called on it to quickly pass the legislature.
“For the first time, each and every earmark will be publicly posted – no hidden agendas, no backroom deals,” Hall said upon the bill’s passage in the House. “Now it’s the Senate’s turn to give Michiganders the transparency they deserve.”
Republicans in the Senate have also been focused on transparency, launching a new website in May that tracks spending requests.
As previously reported by The Center Square, Michigan Senate Republicans want those projects easily found by anyone. Senate Democrats did not create a similar portal.
“Michigan families deserve a better budget process that is transparent, accountable and reflects the true needs of taxpayers,” said Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township. “While Democrats in control of the Senate have chosen to move forward in the dark, Senate Republicans are taking action to restore public trust and ensure that every request brings real value to improving our state.”
