LANSING, Mich. (WXYZ) — Under the Capitol dome in Lansing, earmarks have been a long-held tradition that few lawmakers wanted to talk about but almost every lawmaker wanted to seek.
“The way it worked was: we’d find out what (the earmark) was about a year later when (reporters) told us,” Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, said last month.
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Known as pork-barrel spending or pet projects, earmarks are often tucked into spending bills just hours before lawmakers are asked to vote on them, creating the opportunity for abuse and allegations of favoritism.
But for the first time, lawmakers in the Michigan House are being required to disclose their earmark wishlist weeks before final budget approvals. It was a major change made under Hall, the new House speaker.
“We’re not making an exception,” Hall said during a recent press conference. “You’ve got to get a sponsor, they’ve got to put their name on it, they need to tell us what the public purpose is, they need to describe what the money’s for and when it will be complete or else we’re not doing it.”
The result was nearly 800 requests received, totaling about about $4 billion.
The grant requests run the gamut, from $1 million for a community pool in the Village of Shelby for swim lessons and water aerobics, to $10 million for the Parade Company in Detroit to help build a new studio for the nonprofit.
Some of the requests are massive, like $60 million for a full bridge replacement on West Road in Trenton. Others were much smaller, like almost $200,000 for new shower stalls at the Branch County Fair.
No lawmaker sought more earmarks than Rep. Karen Whitsett of Detroit, at 41 requests. On the Republican side, Rep. John Roth of Interlochen requested 29.
While Republicans are taking credit for the new disclosure requirements, Sen. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, said that it was her party that first required lawmakers’ names to be attached to any earmarks in the 2023 senate budget.
“We are very excited that the speaker has decided to join us in trying to find additional ways to find transparency,” Anthony said.
But so far, the Senate has not put on display all of the earmarks being sought, like they have in the House.
Anthony says she's not necessarily opposed to the idea but pointed out that while earmarks have historically garnered a bad reputation over time, the individual projects are usually quite popular.
“You see that lawmakers are going back to their districts and taking credit for fire stations and road projects, things that they can be proud of going back to their communities and saying I was the champion behind that investment," she said.
Of the approximately 800 earmarks, 419 came from Republicans and 367 came from Democrats.
Hall says he doesn’t expect most will find their way into the budget, and that the GOP budget will aim for about $100 million in earmarks.
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.