Now that the state budget is done, Michigan lawmakers are working on earmark transparency legislation.
One of the compromises in that budgetary process involved changing state Senate rules to require lawmakers to publicly list spending items they were requesting in the budget before voting on them.
The Republican-led state House of Representatives adopted a similar policy earlier in the year and criticized the Democratic-controlled state Senate for not moving as quickly.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) said the result still moved the budget process in the right direction. She sponsors a bill to put some of those earmark reforms into state law.
“Things that we did ... are making us closer to making this more transparent and so I’m excited about that. It’s one of the things that we can fight about it in the press but ultimately the work that we’re going to do behind the scenes and hopefully informed by the public is going to make this place more transparent,” Anthony said after a committee hearing on the bill Wednesday.
When Democrats controlled the Legislature the past two budget cycles, they included language that required a similar naming of earmarks — but not until after the spending had occurred.
This is all as public scrutiny has intensified on legislative earmarks, especially when it comes to spending on economic development projects. Earmarks are budget line-items that direct money to certain projects or purposes, often at the behest of a particular legislator.
Multiple criminal investigations have been launched in recent years into allegations that earmark recipients misused state funds. That includes a health center project in Clare, and a Southeast Michigan-based nonprofit.
Anthony’s bill includes claw-back provisions for earmark recipients who don’t deliver on promises. She said it has taken too long for the state to get its money back in the past.
“It should be very clear and very quick to receive those funds back. And this legislation will help to address that in the future,” Anthony said.
Aside from legislative-directed earmarks, policymakers are contending with an uncertain future around business grants meant to spur investment. The new state budget allowed funding for the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund, known as SOAR, to expire.
Other programs aimed at training, like Going Pro, which helps employers cover the cost of training their workers, lost out on millions of dollars too.
Overall, the state Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity saw its budget cut by around a quarter compared to the last fiscal year.
Despite that, department leadership is still pushing a focus on workforce readiness and job creation programs. Director Susan Corbin said she wants to build on progress the state has made getting people into apprenticeships and credentials.
“We’re going to be placing even more emphasis on helping people with disabilities getting into the workforce. We’re going to continue our work with veterans and justice-involved individuals so that anybody can make it here in Michigan,” Corbin said in an interview this week.
Meanwhile, lawmakers say they’re working on a replacement for the often-criticized SOAR Program.
