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House Speaker Matt Hall’s leadership style appears to be coming into focus: put as many controversies on the table and negotiate backwards. Case in point: State House Republicans without advance notice on Thursday muscled through a $20 billion dollar bare-bones budget, touching off a rancorous floor fight and setting up a showdown with the Senate Democratic majority.
GOP leaders said the two-bill budget package for education and other government functions would serve as a stop-gap spending plan if negotiations bog down heading into the summer or fall. (The new fiscal year begins October 1st and it’s mandated in the state Constitution that Michigan must have a balanced budget.)
“This is a government shutdown prevention plan,” said House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.) Hall said the package would ensure funding for per-pupil spending, corrections and other critical programs even if future budget negotiations stall.
“This is the beginning of the process," said Rep. Ann Bollin (R-Brighton), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, who noted the budget would increase state per-student funding. “This is what we absolutely have to provide. We don’t want our kids starving. We want to make sure they’re safe in school, educated and they have the resources. That’s what’s in this budget bill … It’s not a budget bill. It’s a prevention plan.”
Democrats vociferously opposed the measures as a ploy to gain the upper hand in budget negotiations months ahead of the October deadline.
“This is setting the stage for a government shutdown,” said House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton). “Let’s not beat around the bush here. That’s what’s happening here. There’s a reason some level of critical services were kept to just make it easier for him to drag this budget out, to get political wins.”
The sudden unveiling left many lawmakers with little time to examine the details.
State Representative Betsy Coffia (D-Traverse City) said the stripped-down budget left out critical programs that would be subject to future negotiations. “They cut at-risk funding,” she said. “They cut school meals. They cut rural transportation equity with no conversation with the stakeholders. They are just adding to chaos when what Michiganders want is thoughtful, measured negotiation.”
The bills’ prospects are not promising in the state Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.
“Is Speaker Hall anticipating his own failure to get a budget done? We haven’t seen a government shutdown in a long time, and there’s no good reason why he should be predicting one now unless he wants it to happen,” said Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids).
Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office declined to weigh in on the controversy.
Hall linked the budget bills to a measure the Whitmer administration needs to close the books on the previous fiscal year. This “closing the books” matters because it influences how much the state pays in interest rates.
“Our official year-end state financial record/report, which is shared with our largest creditors, will show whether the state met its constitutional obligations,” emailed Craig Thiel, the research director of the non-partisan Citizens Research Council of Michigan. “Delaying the publication of annual financial reports, while not the end of the world, is generally not a good look for a state.”
The only House Democrat to vote with the Republican majority on the lean-and-mean budget was Rep. Karen Whitsett (D-Detroit), who has become an ally of Hall. It only takes one vote to be able to claim bipartisan support and Whitsett has been that vote since essentially breaking up with the Democrats last year (but still keeping the D by her name.)
It hearkens back to the 1980s and ‘90s, when Macomb County Democratic Sen. Gil Dinello voted so often with the Republicans that then-Senate Majority Leader (and future governor) John Engler rewarded him with a committee chairmanship. DiNello formally switched his allegiance to the Republican Party in 1992 and lost his reelection bid in a redrawn district two years later to a Democrat.
All of this budget brouhaha is in addition to Hall continuing to sit on nine bills that were adopted by the House and the Senate in the last session of the Legislature, when Democrats still controlled the House. A Court of Claims judge has ruled the bills should go to Whitmer but the judge also declined to issue an order for the House clerks to send the bills to the governor in time for them to take effect. In the same opinion, the judge held that Hall himself could not be served with the lawsuit as a sitting member of the Legislature.
Meantime, the House, the Senate and Whitmer are still engaged in discussions over road funding. Hall has introduced his own road plan and is sticking to it – another signal that the Speaker is playing every card he can to control the negotiations in Lansing.
Have questions about Michigan politics? Or, just want to let us know what you want more of (less of?) in the newsletter? We always want to hear from you! Shoot us an email at politics@michiganpublic.org!
What we’re talking about at the dinner table
LG GG to GOV: Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s No. 2, Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist, is set to announce Tuesday that he will seek the Democratic nomination to run for governor in 2026, Gongwer reports.This sets up a primary race with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Flint Sheriff Chris Swanson. We’re still waiting on former Attorney General Mike Cox to formally announce that he’ll be among the group (which already includes Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt) seeking the Republican nomination. Cox has an exploratory committee, which is really a campaign committee. If Gilchrist runs for governor, it still leaves a crowded Democratic field in the open primary for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat. Politico reports former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with Senate Democratic leadership to discuss the race. The lengthy list of Democratic possibilities also includes Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and failed Michigan gubernatorial candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed.
Slotkin vibes: Freshman U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) delivered the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s special address to Congress Tuesday night. Slotkin is a swing state Democrat with a record of winning the Senate seat and three tough U.S. House races. Some Democrats see her centrist example as a road map to majority. But there is progressive pushback. The New York Times story with Annie Karnie’s byline is paywalled, but here’s the nut graf: “Under pressure from a restive progressive base, some want to position themselves as part of a party of aggressive resistance to Mr. Trump. Others see a political center that can be peeled away through a sober appeal to center-leaning voters feeling adverse impacts from the president’s policies.” Sounds familiar to Governor Whitmer’s recent centrist tones.
Spring forward: We probably don’t need to remind you that we lose an hour of sleep this coming Sunday. Well, if you’re not happy about Daylight Saving Time, you’re not alone. Republican state Senator Thomas Albert (along with bipartisan co-sponsors) “wants to let Michigan voters decide if they want to keep Daylight Saving Time,” Michigan Public’s Steve Carmody reports. The legislation “would put the question on the 2026 ballot. The primary argument for keeping DST is to conserve energy and give more daylight in the evening hours during spring and summer.” But plenty of others, including President Trump (well, at least as of last December), disagree. There are also other measures before the Legislature that take various approaches to opt Michigan out of DST. One would require other Midwestern states to make the same call before Michigan would join in.
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Yours in political nerdiness,
Rick Pluta & Zoe Clark
Co-hosts, It’s Just Politics
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IJP ON THE ROAD:
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