Speaker Hall Unshaken Amid Reports of Pain from Budget Cuts

LANSING — The phrase "broken contracts," "broken promises," and "broken trust" echoed through the Senate Appropriations Committee as a dozen leaders of organizations that had received state-approved funding found themselves in a difficult situation. These groups were impacted by a rare legislative maneuver where the House Appropriations Committee refused to roll over $645 million in approved funding for the 2026 fiscal year, causing significant disruption.

The decision came after the Legislature had previously approved the funding earlier in the year. This move has left many organizations scrambling to adjust their plans and budgets. Brandy Johnson, President of the Michigan Community College Association, expressed her concerns about the "Local Heroes" program, which is designed to guide students into high-demand careers, including law enforcement. She emphasized that the rules should not be changed midstream or applied retroactively.

Dr. Mona Hanna, founder and director of Rx Kids, a Flint-based organization expanding to provide cash aid to new parents across Michigan, also voiced her frustrations. Her group had $18.5 million in unspent 2025 dollars pulled back. She stated, "When we make promises to babies, we must keep them."

Democratic senators criticized the Republican action as "unconscionable." However, there was also implicit criticism from some Republican senators on the committee. Sen. Jon Bumstead, R-North Muskegon, who serves as the minority vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, shared his experience as a building contractor. He mentioned that he had never been sued for breaking a contract or had to sue anyone else to get paid. Bumstead stressed the importance of trust, saying, "A person is only as good as their word. You can't lose the people's trust."

Another GOP senator, John Damoose of Harbor Springs, expressed concern that the action taken by the House Appropriations Committee could create a perverse incentive for groups to spend all the money they receive immediately.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, held a news conference two floors below at the Capitol, congratulating his members for their work. He praised the House Appropriations Committee for slashing another $644 million, which he described as largely "green energy scams," "DEI" projects, and items like "tampons in boys' bathrooms."

Under Michigan's Management and Budget Act, the Appropriations Committee in either chamber can unilaterally reject the use of "work projects" to carry over approved funding for specific projects from one fiscal year to the next.

Hamtramck Fire Chief Matt Wyszczelski testified about the impact of the funding cut on his city. His city had received funding in the state budget in 2024 to buy a badly needed new fire truck, which can take over a year to order and take possession of after calling for bids. With the funding now pulled back, "we are now on the hook for over $900,000," and he and the city controller are "trying to figure out how we are going to pay for it."

Nearly one week after the House Appropriations committee voted to reject $645 million of about $2.7 billion in "work project" requests, neither the State Budget Office nor Hall have been able to provide a complete list of every project that has been impacted and by how much. Hall claimed this was a sign of pork spending being out of control, but he also confirmed that he and his caucus members did not reach out to local governments such as Hamtramck or other impacted groups to ask them about the status of their projects or how a rejection of requested work projects would impact them.

Told about the comments by Damoose and Bumstead, Hall suggested they were among Republican lawmakers who negotiated to "shove their own pork into the budget," and then got "pissed off" by the recent cuts. Hall said some projects might be restored through a supplemental spending bill, subject to negotiations. Democratic senators vowed to see all the cut funding restored.

Hall mentioned that some projects were spared due to departmental priorities shared with the House Appropriations Committee prior to the Dec. 10 action. He admitted his initial planned cuts were "more aggressive." "I was never trying to disrupt really critical things that would create cataclysmic problems," Hall said.

Budget Director Jen Flood responded to Hall in a statement issued through a spokeswoman. She highlighted that departments complied with requests from Speaker Hall and House Appropriations Committee members, including providing more than 500 pages of materials on work projects. Flood emphasized that disapproval would mean voting to halt funding for local road, bridge, and water infrastructure repairs, senior centers, job creation efforts, and other common-sense measures. She stated the GOP action "was a vote to raise costs, and harm some of our most vulnerable Michiganders."

Sen. Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, another member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, noted that the Dec. 10 action will likely lead to multi-year projects being more explicitly negotiated and spelled out in state budget legislation rather than through requests submitted by the State Budget Office. Hall agreed that this should happen.