$3.4B in earmarks could be contested topic in state budget battle

Members of both parties give their take on Michigan's budget battle

We speak with a Democrat and a Republican about the looming deadline with the state budget.

FOX 2 - The clock is ticking down with Michigan lawmakers staring at a possible government shutdown if they can’t pass a budget.

The House has approved its plan, but deep divisions remain over billions in spending and the deadline is looming.

Dig deeper:

Both Republicans and Democrats are getting equal time on a topic in the budget debate to give in-depth takes on budget earmarks.

An estimated $3.4 billion in earmarks is the estimated amount in the budget right now. Democrats have been critical of Republicans, and the feeling is mutual due to earmarks in past budgets. Earmarks are pet projects targeted for political funding.

Democrat Rep. Regina Weiss from Oak Park joins us to explain her side of the aisle's viewpoint.

Hilary Golston, FOX 2: The House Fiscal Agency is predicting close to a $677 million shortfall. So how do we look at this without thinking of Democrats as hypocritical on the earmarks question?

State Rep. Regina Weiss (D): "A lot of these are investments in local communities for important projects that a lot of those local communities need. Now, when we're taking about the budget as a whole. However, to your point, there are a lot of questions around how we're gonna get a budget done by the looming October 1st deadline.

"Frankly, the number one priority right now of Democrats and Republicans in both chambers needs to be passing a budget and making sure that that budget is balanced. And I'm very concerned about the budget that was just passed out of the House that would have cut, made some drastic cuts to Medicaid, $5 billion from Medicaid, $500 million from prescription drugs, cuts to our healthcare system, $2.5 billion in cuts to help to our hospitals.

"That could lead to the loss of over 20,000 jobs here in Michigan. Additionally, our school budget that was passed back in June would cut $2 billion in funding for local schools, including funding for meals and other critical things. So I think we need to focus on what matters, which is getting a budget passed now that funds those important things."

Republican State Rep. Ann Bollin.

On the opposing side is State Rep. Ann Bollin, a Republican on the House Appropriations Committee chair.

Hilary Golston, FOX 2: "The estimate is that there are about $3.4 billion in what are describe as earmarks on the table. Democrats have been critical of this saying that they want transparency. And I wonder, from your perspective, how do you differentiate between a legitimate product that's important for the community and something that's really just an allocation that might be viewed as a favor by some?"

State Rep. Ann Bollin (R): "Unanimously, the Michigan House of Representatives did pass a resolution back in the spring and they called for an open and transparent process. So any type of earmarked special project, kind of one-off, I call them, would be required to have a legislative sponsor. And so we often refer to them now as this LDSI's - Legislatively Directed Spending iIems. And so we had a window of time when legislators could bring forth and submit a project.

"That's what you see on the House of Representatives website, these direct appropriation requests. They did total almost $4 billion, as you mentioned. There were over 700 projects submitted. And then we had a series of hearings on them so that they were transparent. But that submission of a project had to include the sponsor's name, it had to include identification of who the recipient of the money would be, an explanation of the project or what the money will be used for, and then also an explanation of why it would be a good use of taxpayer dollars."