State Rep. Cam Cavitt on Thursday slammed downstate Democrats for cramming through a budget littered with cherry-picked pet projects in key Democrat strongholds. The fiscal year 2025 budget passed the House during the late hours of the night.

“Once again, Democrats strong-armed a budget through the state House that only prioritizes funding for the people in big cities who vote for them,” said Cavitt, R-Cheboygan. “Democrats don’t govern in a manner that supports the whole of Michigan; they only focus on the people who fall inside the borders of their own districts.”

The budget includes hundreds of millions in funding for special projects. These projects include $17 million for zoos in Lansing and metro Detroit, $2 million for a boxing gym, $5 million for a movie theater, and more than $18 million for sports complexes and fieldhouses.

Cavitt noted that his budget requests included items like $7 million for repairs of the Orchard Park Bridge, which is in desperate need of repair, $2 million for a housing project at Alpena Community College, and $1.5 million for the Black River Jetty. All were rejected outright by Democrat leadership.

“We have a bridge that’s literally at risk of failing and college kids with no place to live, yet Democrats would rather use taxpayer dollars on zoos and boxing clubs than do anything to support the people of rural Michigan,” Cavitt said. “They pushed through more than $400 million in special pet projects, but critical infrastructure updates weren’t important enough to make the cut.”

The Licensing and Regulatory Affairs budget includes nearly $6 million for the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) to implement the Democrats’ new radical green energy laws. The funding would allow the MPSC to begin the process of subverting local control to approve large-scale solar and wind projects.

“The public has been loud and clear in their vocal opposition to the Democrats’ radical green energy laws,” Cavitt said. “I’m not sure how using taxpayer dollars to pay for the implementation of these historically unpopular measures will increase public support.”

The Labor and Economic Opportunity budget includes $1 million for illegal immigrants to hire taxpayer-funded attorneys. The Democrats also approved an undesignated amount of funding to support the Office of Global Michigan, which is facing scrutiny for giving hand-outs to illegal immigrants.

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