Michigan Lawmakers Focus on Earmark Transparency and Economic Development
Public scrutiny of legislative earmarks, particularly for economic development projects, has increased. Following the signing of the state budget, Michigan lawmakers are now working on legislation to improve earmark transparency.
A compromise during the budgetary process involved changing state Senate rules to require lawmakers to publicly disclose spending items they requested in the budget before voting on them. The Republican-led state House of Representatives had adopted a similar policy earlier in the year and criticized the Democratic-controlled state Senate for not acting as quickly.
...are making us closer to making this more transparent and so I’m excited about that.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) sponsors a bill to implement some of these earmark reforms into state law, stating that the result moves the budget process in the right direction.
Author's summary: Michigan lawmakers work on earmark transparency legislation.