Michigan lawmakers begin reviewing state projects

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(The Center Square) – A group of Republican Michigan lawmakers want to stop the tradition of carrying forward taxpayer money on planned projects that hasn’t been spent.

The projects, according to Rep. Ken Borton, R-Gaylord, are routinely funded for a budget year, but when the money isn’t used, it is commonly moved into work accounts so it can be carried forward and available for use for years.

Recently, however, House Republicans voted to stop blanket approvals for the continued funding and review each request.

This year, the State Budget Office asked for billions of dollars to be carried over, but Republicans have stopped $600 million for review.

“This is all part of our effort to restore responsible spending and budget transparency in Michigan,” Borton said in a news release. “Pressing pause on these project funds and taking a closer look at these projects is the right thing to do. Some of them have very clear problems. Others appear to be stalled for unexplained reasons. Before money gets carried forward for several more years, we want answers.”

Borton said the projects were approved in fiscal year 2024-25, and the committee plans to decide if the projects are worth the money or should be stopped.

Borton questioned projects he said funded welfare and legal representation for illegal immigrants, nonprofits that push diversity, equity and inclusion on children, electric vehicle charging stations, tampons in boys’ bathrooms and the IT department for the secretary of state.

“A past Legislature decided to make this money available, and recipients failed to use those dollars in a timely manner,” Borton said. “Now, our current Legislature has a responsibility to review and assess the justifications for these projects and determine why funding wasn’t utilized properly in the first place. Some of these projects were a clear misuse of state resources. I’m glad the administrators of these wasteful programs were so inept that they failed to ever spend the dollars they were awarded. Their sheer incompetence should not be rewarded with continued funding. Just because other lawmakers agreed to these absurd ideas does not immediately mean they will continue to receive a stamp of approval.”