A libertarian-leaning think tank has filed a lawsuit to block spending two on pork-barrel projects in the state budget in hopes of discouraging similar spending in future budgets.
The Mackinac Center argues in its filing that the 2024-25 state budget doles out pork barrel funds for ballparks in Lansing and Utica in violation of the Michigan Constitution, which says spending for “local or private purposes” can only be done with two-thirds supermajority votes of the House and the Senate. The budget bill that included the spending fell short of that threshold.
Mackinac Center Legal Director Patrick Wright argues the Legislature has developed a workaround to avoid the constitutional requirement.
“They would say, like, in a city of a certain size with a range of maybe a thousand people, in a county of a certain size which has a range of maybe 5,000 people, what they’re really trying to do is to pinpoint only one recipient,” he said in a video presentation. “That pinpointing violates the constitution.”
He said failing to reach the two-thirds threshold created the opening to file the legal challenge. And, Wright said, he thinks additional constitutional violations add up to billions of dollars more in costs to taxpayers.
Jeff Guilfoyle is a budget expert with Public Sector Consultants, a nonpartisan think tank. He said the legal challenge and closely divided government could change how state budgets are created.
“If we’re going to be in a state now where we don’t get two-thirds votes for the appropriations bills, then people are going to have to look at these appropriations where you need a super-majority for stuff to get enacted,” he told Michigan Public Radio.
It will be up to a Michigan Court of Claims judge to decide whether the Mackinac Center’s arguments have merit, but a decision either way could be appealed.
Earmark reform has been a catchphrase in the Legislature this year. The Michigan House now requires earmark requests to be publicly posted in advance of budget votes.
