Michigan Democratic lawmakers condemn claw back of funds by House Republicans
Michigan Democratic lawmakers are continuing to push back against the millions of dollars that were clawed back by Republicans last week.
"A housing project will be left half done because of the actions last week-- a fire truck in Hamtramck will be stalled, meaning some life might be lost or property might be damaged because of the actions last week," said state Sen. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing.
Usually, departments and organizations that have money allocated to them by the state can roll over unused money at the end of the fiscal year to use later on. But House Republicans disapproved those line items, effectively cutting about $645 million.
"The speaker has already made it clear that he is going to expect all of these departments and non-profits and organizations and local governments to come back and beg him for this money," said state Rep. Mai Xiong, D-Warren.
A list compiled by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's office outlines the projects in every corner of Metro Detroit. That includes $1 million in cuts to Clawson's water infrastructure projects, a $5 million cut to the Motown Museum and just under $2 million for the Troy fire ladder.
House Speaker Matt Hall said on Tuesday the departments and organizations that saw these cuts will have an opportunity to justify the work they do through a process Hall named after himself: the Hall Ethics Accountability and Transparency, also called the HEAT plan.
"All of these projects now because we blocked the spending, we disapproved it are now going to go through that process," he said. "We're hearing more about these projects than anyone did before they got the money in the budget," he said.
Hall said it comes down to responsibility.
"I look at it as we have an obligation to be good stewards of the tax dollars of the people of Michigan," he said.
Senate Democrats say they're exploring all the options they have to reinstate the funds, but they say they will not weaponize the Senate appropriations process.