House Appropriations Chair Ann Bollin today released the following statement highlighting the unconstitutionality of actions taken by the state Senate this week concerning House Bill 4576, which the Senate used as a vehicle to pass a supplemental spending plan:

“The Senate’s action this week is unconstitutional. Passing their supplemental spending plan would be against the law. 

“House Bill 4576 was introduced and passed by the House as a narrowly focused appropriations bill for the Michigan Department of Education. The Senate then stripped that bill of its original purpose and replaced it with a sweeping supplemental budget funding a wide range of unrelated programs and special projects across multiple state departments.

“Our Constitution is clear. A bill cannot be amended in a way that changes its original purpose, and bills addressing one state statute cannot amend another statute by reference. These safeguards exist to uphold the integrity of the legislative process and ensure the public understands how hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are being allocated.

“By completely rewriting the bill and using it as a vehicle to move hundreds of millions of dollars in new spending, the Senate sidestepped those constitutional requirements. It appears the Senate also violated the law and ignored its own internal rules requiring special budget projects to be publicly posted online before being included in a budget bill. This only deepens the concerns surrounding this process.

“The House fully intends to pass a supplemental budget to restore funding for worthwhile projects and responsibly close the books on the previous fiscal year. We will do so in due time — after lawmakers have had the opportunity to thoroughly vet the projects through a transparent process – and fund line items that may be appropriate to restore.

“I hope the House and Senate can work together in a bipartisan manner to determine what belongs in that supplemental and ensure every dollar meets the standards set forth in the House Ethics, Accountability, and Transparency plan, which received bipartisan support earlier this year and was signed into law. Michigan taxpayers expect us to follow the Constitution, protect their tax dollars, respect the rules, and put accountability ahead of frivolous spending. That is the approach the House will continue to take.”