“Good government” practice protects voices of Michigan residents

State Reps. Diana Farrington, of Utica, and Douglas Wozniak, of Shelby Township, today backed a new common-sense framework related to the state budget – preserving some State Administrative Board powers while preventing future gubernatorial abuse of the system.

The plan relates to a board recently used by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to unilaterally shift around $625 million in taxpayer money without oversight or accountability during the budget process.

Her actions eliminated Legislature-approved support for some of Michigan’s most vulnerable people – defunding programs to help children in foster care, boost court-appointed advocates for children, help at-risk youth and fight human trafficking. Instead, the funds were shifted to separate bureaucratic priorities.

“Instead of focusing on the past and who put this board into place, we can set the table for better government practices in the future,” Farrington said. “We can tell people in southeast Michigan that their voices will matter and the people they elect to represent them will be able to fight for funding for essential services they rely on. The current setup lends too much power and not enough oversight – to the detriment of people in Michigan.”

Wozniak said a precedent could be set by the governor’s actions going forward and it’s important to shore up what is essentially a loophole in the state budget process.

“It’s dangerous when a legislative body spends months on a budget that directly reflects the wishes of people in communities they represent across Michigan and those wishes are completely disregarded at the eleventh hour,” Wozniak said. “That’s not the right way to do state business with people’s tax dollars.”

One of the proposals introduced would limit the amount of money the board could redirect in any one line item to $200,000 in one budget year. The other would change the appropriations process to empower the Legislature with stronger authority on budget transfers.

Limiting the amounts of money that can be transferred by the State Administrative Board would return Michigan to the parameters of the 1970s and 1980s under Gov. William Milliken, adjusted for inflation. It also would place a proper emphasis on current procedures for budget-related transfers that the Legislature and the governor’s administration routinely use year-round.

The legislation, House Bills 5175-77, will be reviewed in the House Government Operations Committee.