Latest news with #HouseFiscalAgency
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Michigan lawmakers consider photo, signature requirements on food assistance cards to curb fraud
Michigan Capitol | Susan J. Demas Electronic theft of benefits and unauthorized use of food assistance cards is costing Michiganders millions if not billions of dollars in fraud, supporters of legislation to require a photo and a signature on Michigan Bridge cards said during a Thursday meeting of the state House Government Operations Committee. Rep. Jason Woolford (R-Howell), sponsor of House Bill 4515, told lawmakers Thursday that Michigan has seen instances of organized crime stealing people's Electronic Benefits Transfer, or EBT, data to drain people's SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, benefits which are informally known as food stamps. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX A May statement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture said SNAP benefit fraud efforts have 'dramatically' increased in recent years through card skimming and cloning efforts. And as President Donald Trump's administration has zeroed in on cracking down on bad actors stealing food assistance dollars from those who need them, Judicial Officer of the United States Department of Agriculture John Walk said these crimes hurt Americans on multiple levels. 'These are truly sick and depraved individuals who are stealing food from low-income Americans for their own profit,' Walk said in May. 'It is especially disturbing when international criminal organizations siphon tax dollars away from SNAP beneficiaries to fund their own illicit activities.' Woolford's bill would require those using Michigan's food assistance card, known as the Bridge Card, to have their photograph and signature appear on the card. The bill isn't meant to inconvenience anyone in need of food assistance in Michigan more than the inconvenience many Michiganders face when getting a photo for a driver's license, passport, or a Costco membership card, Woolford said. And although the nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency places estimates of implementing photo and signature requirements at between $1.5 million to $4.5 million annually, based on other states that have done so, Woolford said the change could save taxpayers billions in fraud. 'That's my concern, that the amount of money we're losing here, money that quite honestly could go to other people that are being denied benefits or that we don't have the money to take care of because of the waste, fraud and abuse,' Woolford said. In the House Fiscal Agency's analysis of the bill, savings to Michigan as a result of reduced fraud are indeterminate and likely negligible. Regardless of whose image would appear on a card, in order for whole families to benefit from food assistance, federal rules mandate that states can't hinder members of a household from permitted purchases, so anyone with the pin number can make a purchase regardless of the image on the card, the analysis said. On Thursday, Rep. Mike Harris (R-Waterford Township) said during his law enforcement career prior to joining the Legislature, he saw frequent fraudulent use of food assistance cards. At the same time, when considering concerns that having to get a photo taken would place an undue burden on recipients, Harris said he'd be interested in seeing if the bill could be further fleshed out to allow images already in the Michigan Department of State's database for state IDs to be used for Bridge Cards.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Whitmer proposed outdoor license hikes, but left Michiganders hunting for a dollar figure
LANSING — Gov. Whitmer's proposed state budget for 2026 calls for nearly $30 million in increased hunting, fishing and watercraft registration fees. But it's still not clear exactly how much more Whitmer wants you to pay for which specific license. Michigan's hunting and fishing licenses and related Department of Natural Resources license fees have not gone up in a little over a decade. Whitmer's budget proposes raising an extra $28.9 million by increasing those fees, as well as watercraft fees. But getting the details on those proposed increases has proven difficult. According to a budget analysis by the House Fiscal Agency, state hunting and fishing licenses would generally go up 30% to 50% under Whitmer's proposal, while watercraft registrations would increase 60%. But on Wednesday, House Fiscal Agency analyst Austin Scott told lawmakers that some of the proposed increases are "more of a doubling," without providing details. Scott later said his estimates are mostly based on a House Democratic bill introduced last year and that this year's proposals are expected to be similar. In past years, the State Budget Office has provided the Free Press with a schedule of all proposed fee changes baked into the budget proposal. This year, the budget office has not produced that schedule, despite repeated requests since Feb. 6. Ed Golder, a spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources, said Wednesday there is no proposed fee schedule. "That will be spelled out when the legislation is introduced," Golder said. The state currently collects a little more than $60 million a year from hunting and fishing licenses. The proposed increases in the 2026 budget would be used to increase staffing, expand access to outdoor recreation, improve maintenance of state parks, and "ensure the long-term durability and ecological stability of Michigan's state parks and statewide facilities," according to Whitmer's budget proposal. The lack of details on the fee hikes hasn't prevented legislative Republicans from attacking the proposal as incompatible with Whitmer's pledged efforts to help Michiganders hurt by inflation. State Rep. Ken Borton, R-Gaylord, chair of the House appropriations subcommittee that handles the DNR budget, pledged in February that the proposed fee increases would not get his approval. "If DNR leadership continues this ridiculous crusade to hike fees across the board — an action that does nothing but punish those who love the outdoors — we are going to zero out their budget," Borton said. "This is not a threat. This will be their reality if the DNR does not commit to working with us to protect access to the outdoors." In December, nearly two months before Whitmer's February budget presentation, Democrats introduced a bill to increase hunting and fishing license fees that was expected to raise an additional $22 million. The bill, House Bill 6229, also would have provided for annual fee increases tied to the inflation rate. It did not pass either chamber and did not include watercraft fee increases. State Rep. Amos O'Neal, D-Saginaw, who sponsored last year's bill, said Wednesday that after more than 10 years it seems reasonable that license fees need to rise. The question, he said, is how much. The proposed increases in last year's bill may not match what Whitmer is proposing this year. The bill introduced last year would have increased the base fee for small game hunting from $10 to $15 for resident adults, from $5 to $8 for resident minors, and from $150 to $163 for nonresidents. A combination hunting and fishing license for residents would increase from $75 to $113 for residents and from $265 to $273 for nonresidents. For adult residents, the fee for a wild turkey hunting license would have increased from $15 to $23; the fee for a waterfowl hunting license from $12 to $18; the fee for a pheasant hunting license from $25 to $38; the fee for a deer hunting license from $20 to $30; the fee for a bear hunting license from $25 to $38; and the fee for an elk hunting license from $100 to $150. For an all-species fishing license, the bill would have increased the fee from $25 to $38 for residents and from $75 to $88 for nonresidents. It also would have changed the age threshold at which a license is needed from 16 to 17. The bill would have also reduced the discount for many senior hunting licenses from 60% less than the regular rate to 25% less. Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Whitmer wants to raise nearly $30M more from hunting, fishing, boating
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
How 2015 Snyder plan allowed Michigan's state fuel tax to quietly creep up
LANSING — Out of sight and mostly out of mind, the state fuel tax has quietly increased by nearly 5 cents a gallon since the last road funding deal was struck, rising to 31 cents per gallon as of Jan. 1. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer outlined a plan Monday she said would raise an extra $3 billion for roads. It would require approval from the Legislature, including from the GOP-controlled state House. A plan approved by state lawmakers under former Gov. Rick Snyder, back in 2015, increased the fuel tax from 19 cents to 26.3 cents per gallon. But the plan also called for the fuel tax to be indexed to inflation going forward, up to a maximum of 5% annually. That's how Michigan's total fuel tax has increased an additional 4.7 cents per gallon since then, with no legislative action required. The fuel tax is expected to generate a little over $1.6 billion for the Michigan Department of Transportation to spend on roads in the 2026 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, with a little over $1.3 billion coming from the gas tax, about $286 million from taxes on diesel fuels, and just under $2.4 million from taxes on liquefied petroleum and alternative fuels, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Treasury Department. In 2015, the motor fuel tax generated a little over $1 billion, according to the House Fiscal Agency. That increased to about $1.5 billion in the 2024 fiscal year. The inflationary increases in the fuel tax have allowed fuel tax revenues to continue to increase, despite a decline in overall fuel consumption since 2015, as vehicles have become more fuel-efficient and many motorists have shifted to electric vehicles or hybrids. In 2023, the most recent year cited in a 2024 report from the House Fiscal Agency, about 5.1 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel were sold in Michigan, the report said. That was down from close to 5.5 billion gallons in 2015, the report said. The 31-cent-per-gallon fuel tax, by itself, puts Michigan near the top third of states, with 17 states having a similar or higher state excise tax on fuel, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But when Michigan's 6% sales tax on fuel is included, total state taxes of about 48 cents a gallon in Michigan are only exceeded by five states: California (69 cents); Illinois (66 cents); Pennsylvania (59 cents); and Indiana and Washington (53 cents). Whitmer's plan would remove the sales tax from Michigan fuel sales and replace it with an equivalent amount of fuel tax, so that the overall price of a gallon of fuel does not change. All revenues from fuel taxes go toward roads, while most sales tax revenues go to support schools. Whitmer says her plan would ensure that schools would be held harmless. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Michigan is one of 24 states where the fuel tax is adjusted periodically, based on inflation or other metrics, with no legislative action required. Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan's fuel tax has crept up nearly 5 cents a gallon over 10 years
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Michigan AG Dana Nessel says she will sue to block Trump's federal funding pause
LANSING — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she plans to file a lawsuit Tuesday to protect programs and "vital services" threatened by a federal funding pause ordered Monday by the Trump administration. "My team is working at full speed today to discern what these orders mean and the extent of their immediate impacts, and request an immediate legal remedy to restore funding provided by Congress, require this administration to comply with the law, and to stop this absurd and unprecedented attack on these programs," Nessel said in a news release. The administration of President Donald Trump temporarily paused grant, loan and other financial assistance programs at the Office of Management and Budget, under a memorandum issued Monday. The memo specifically excluded from the pause "assistance received directly by individuals," including Medicare and Social Security, and also appeared to exclude state welfare payments to needy families, such as food stamps, which account for close to $5.5 billion in federal spending in Michigan. But Nessel said in a news release it appeared payments under Medicaid could be impacted by the pause, as well as Head Start, which is a preschool program. "We are receiving reports of critical impacts to significant programs many millions of Michiganders rely upon daily for vital services," Nessel said. The memo referenced executive orders, including those seeking to dismantle programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), signed by President Donald Trump since he took office last week. "In the interim, to the extent permissible under applicable law, federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be impacted by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal," Matthew J. Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in the memo. The suspension goes into effect Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 5 p.m., according to the memo. Agencies have until Feb. 10 to submit detailed information on any programs, projects or activities subject to the pause, the memo states. Michigan's 2025 budget totals about $81.2 billion, of which just under $33.9 billion, or 42%, comes from the federal government, according to the House Fiscal Agency. But not all of that federal money has been paused. By state agency, the biggest recipients of federal funding are the Department of Health and Human Services ($26.6 billion); the Michigan Department of Transportation ($2.3 billion); School Aid ($2.3 billion); and the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity ($1.2 billion). Next are the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential ($505.4 million) and the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy ($463.8 million). More: DOJ shuts down Detroit legal program helping immigrants in court after Trump order "The potential impact is huge," said Bob Schneider, a senior research associate at the Citizens Research Council of Michigan. But it is quite possible the freeze applies to a more limited range of federal spending programs, he said, noting the qualifier in the memorandum "to the extent permissible under federal law." Programs delivered through the states that are already provided for under federal law, such as Medicaid, may not be covered by the pause, Schneider said. Earlier Tuesday, New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said she plans to ask a Manhattan federal court to block the Republican president's moves. Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan AG Nessel says she will sue to block Trump's funding pause
USA Today
28-01-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Michigan AG Dana Nessel says she will sue to block Trump's federal funding pause
LANSING — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she plans to file a lawsuit Tuesday to protect programs and "vital services" threatened by a federal funding pause ordered Monday by the Trump administration. "My team is working at full speed today to discern what these orders mean and the extent of their immediate impacts, and request an immediate legal remedy to restore funding provided by Congress, require this administration to comply with the law, and to stop this absurd and unprecedented attack on these programs," Nessel said in a news release. The administration of President Donald Trump temporarily paused grant, loan and other financial assistance programs at the Office of Management and Budget, under a memorandum issued Monday. The memo specifically excluded from the pause "assistance received directly by individuals," including Medicare and Social Security, and also appeared to exclude state welfare payments to needy families, such as food stamps, which account for close to $5.5 billion in federal spending in Michigan. But Nessel said in a news release it appeared payments under Medicaid could be impacted by the pause, as well as Head Start, which is a preschool program. "We are receiving reports of critical impacts to significant programs many millions of Michiganders rely upon daily for vital services," Nessel said. The memo referenced executive orders, including those seeking to dismantle programs related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), signed by President Donald Trump since he took office last week. "In the interim, to the extent permissible under applicable law, federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be impacted by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal," Matthew J. Vaeth, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in the memo. The suspension goes into effect Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 5 p.m., according to the memo. Agencies have until Feb. 10 to submit detailed information on any programs, projects or activities subject to the pause, the memo states. Michigan's 2025 budget totals about $81.2 billion, of which just under $33.9 billion, or 42%, comes from the federal government, according to the House Fiscal Agency. But not all of that federal money has been paused. By state agency, the biggest recipients of federal funding are the Department of Health and Human Services ($26.6 billion); the Michigan Department of Transportation ($2.3 billion); School Aid ($2.3 billion); and the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity ($1.2 billion). Next are the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential ($505.4 million) and the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy ($463.8 million). More:DOJ shuts down Detroit legal program helping immigrants in court after Trump order "The potential impact is huge," said Bob Schneider, a senior research associate at the Citizens Research Council of Michigan. But it is quite possible the freeze applies to a more limited range of federal spending programs, he said, noting the qualifier in the memorandum "to the extent permissible under federal law." Programs delivered through the states that are already provided for under federal law, such as Medicaid, may not be covered by the pause, Schneider said. Earlier Tuesday, New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, said she plans to ask a Manhattan federal court to block the Republican president's moves. Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@
