Michigan lawmakers pitch earmarks — including a critic who called them ‘quid pro quo'

Associated Press

3 days ago

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — State Rep. Jim Desana has argued earmarks should be banned from the Michigan budget, but not the kind he's asking for: A $1.75 million grant to renovate a baseball stadium in his district at Taylor's Heritage Park.
That's in part because the House has added new layers of transparency to the process, including hours of public hearings this week, the Carleton Republican told Bridge Michigan.
'I think that an earmark that benefits a private individual or a private company is especially egregious, but this earmark just benefits the downriver communities, especially Taylor,' DeSana said.
A baseball fanatic, DeSana helps run a collegiate summer team, the Michigan Monarchs, and he personally offers pitching and batting training through a business he operates out of his home in Carleton. The $1.75 million in taxpayer money he is requesting would be used to help renovate a Taylor baseball stadium that hosts the Junior League World Series. Each year, teams from around the world come to compete for the championship — Taiwan has something of a dynasty at the moment.
The money, along with matching funds from the city of Taylor and private donors, would mean 'a new edifice, grandstand, new chair-back seating, press box and lighting,' DeSana said.
The request is a first for DeSana, a staunch conservative who has been a strident critic of earmarks, calling them a form of 'quid pro quo' that allows lawmakers to pick ' winners and losers ' instead of seeking competitive bids, which leads to more expensive projects with more waste.
But his request is different, DeSana argued in a recent interview, because the baseball field is in a public, city-owned park, and the World Series draws thousands to the area each year, generating economic activity.
'I think that legitimately, this falls under that whole broad category of how to improve your community parks and recreation,' he added.
'Sorting through' requests
Michigan's earmark process has been rife with controversy for years, in part because lawmakers have tucked away requests in huge spending bills that were passed in the dead of night.
Some have raised eyebrows, including grants to private firms and projects led by major donors. Others have led to criminal investigations or charges, including millions for rockets and projects led by people with politicalconnections.
But House Republicans have moved to reform the process this year under Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township.
Under new transparency rules he pushed, lawmakers were required to submit any earmark requests by May 1 – long before any House votes – to allow for public review.
Collectively, lawmakers requested nearly $3.4 billion for 791 projects, including money for a therapy program in Warren, bridge repairs in Sheridan Township, services for 'New Americans' in Madison Heights, clock tower repairs at Jackson Community College and more.
The House Labor and Economic Opportunity Subcommittee held three marathon hearings on the earmark requests last week, taking testimony from a host of lawmakers and local officials on a litany of requests for taxpayer funding.
'There's a lot of needs out there, and it's just a matter of sorting through those and finding out which ones the state can and should be funding,' said Rep. Nancy Jenkins-Arno, a Clayton Republican who chairs the subcommittee.
Most of the requests were relatively mundane, such as a request for $2.5 million to build a jetty at the mouth of the Black River in Alcona County.
'They're just dredging and dredging where, if we put the money towards the jetty to stop the sand, they would no longer have to dredge,' said Rep. Cam Cavitt, a Cheboygan Republican who sponsored the request.
Budgetary standoff
Even as the House works through its newly transparent process, it's not yet clear what earmarks will make it into the final state budget.
The Democratic-led Senate has not adopted the same earmark process, but Hall has been adamant: Grant requests that don't comply with new House rules won't make it into the budget.
'I don't care who the politician is. I don't care what the program is. We're not making an exception,' Hall told reporters in late April.
In a statement to Bridge Friday, Hall indicated he isn't backing down, arguing the reforms 'have made Lansing uncomfortable. That's a good thing.'
'House Republicans voted to prevent any vote on earmarks that haven't been disclosed, and the House is now bound by that rule. Senate Democrats will now have to adapt to a more open government,' he added.
But with both chambers locked in negotiations after missing a July 1 budgetary deadline, it's become less clear how the standoff will resolve.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called for reforming the earmark process in her 2025 State of the State address, and at the time Brinks had sounded open to change.
'The transparency issues in terms of earmarks — it's something that we've already been working on in the Senate over the last two years, so we will continue that work,' Brinks told Bridge immediately following the speech.
A spokesperson for Brinks didn't immediately reply to a request for comment on this story.
The Senate in June approved a budget without any apparent earmarks, but legislators close to negotiations said they still expect some to make it into any final deal. The grants have usually not appeared in the state budget until shortly before final votes. The House has yet to pass a general government budget, but has passed a proposal for school funding.
House Democrats joined Republicans in filing advance earmark requests but did not participate in this week's hearings, aside from a staffer for state Rep. Karen Whitsett, a Democrat who has sided with Republicans on issues in the past.
In a statement, House Democrats' spokesperson Jess Travers called the hearings a 'political stunt' and accused Republicans of 'delay tactics' rather than passing a full state budget.
'House Democrats are focused on passing a full budget that protects school lunches, SNAP and Medicaid,' she added.
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This story was originally published by Bridge Michigan and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.