State Reps. Mike Mueller and Mike Harris today said they are working to identify waste, fraud, and abuse in the budget, and their goal is to reinvest those dollars where they will improve public safety throughout Michigan.

Mueller, who chairs the MSP budget subcommittee, said the Michigan State Police has become dysfunctional under failed leadership, and millions of taxpayer dollars have likely been wasted or mismanaged as a result.

Ending that mismanagement and eliminating waste in other parts of the state budget would allow the state to invest more in local police agencies through the House’s new Public Safety and Violence Prevention Trust Fund.

“When you dig into the budget, it’s clear that many state departments have been sitting on money for phantom positions that they never fill, and spending it on things that don’t improve our state the way that the Public Safety and Violence Prevention Trust Fund would,” said Mueller, R-Linden. “My colleagues and I are working on cleaning out that waste, so we can fix our roads and send more resources to the men and women in local law enforcement who are on the front lines protecting our neighborhoods every single day.”

The Public Safety and Violence Prevention Trust Fund would be established through bipartisan legislation sponsored, in part, by Harris, R-Waterford, a former police officer. The fund would dedicate $115 million annually to local law enforcement agencies and violence prevention efforts across Michigan.

Harris said shifting resources into the trust fund would ensure accountability and direct more support to areas where it would do the most good.

“As someone who has worn the badge, I know how important it is for officers to have the resources and backup they need to do the job safely and effectively,” Harris said. “This trust fund means taxpayer dollars will go straight to trusted local police and sheriff’s departments who have the confidence of their communities.”

Recently, MSP troopers issued an overwhelming vote of no confidence in Colonel James Grady and Lieutenant Colonel Aimee Brimacombe. Despite this, Whitmer has stood firmly behind her appointees. Mueller said the lack of accountability at the top has trickled down throughout the department, and troopers don’t have the support to do their jobs effectively.