Ever since Republican Matt Hall took over as Speaker of the Michigan House at the beginning of the year, he has pushed for new levels of transparency. A new rule now requires lawmakers’ requests for earmarks - that’s money designated for projects in their districts - must be submitted in writing and made public before voting on the budget begins. This means anonymous earmark requests are no longer allowed (in the House, at least). On today’s show, Crain’s Detroit Business senior politics reporter David Eggert breaks down the nearly 800 requests totaling an estimated $4 billion that have now been made public. Plus, a ballot campaign to make Michigan a ranked choice voting state could soon start gathering signatures for the 2026 ballot. Pat Zabawa, Executive Director of Rank MI Vote, joins Zoe Clark and Rick Pluta.
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