Joe Tate seeks $52M in earmarks for Detroit nonprofits in 2026 budget

Former Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, requested over $52 million for 18 handpicked organizations in the 2026 state budget.

Many groups that could benefit from new earmarks, including some of the 18 on Tate’s list, have previously pocketed money and are back for more. Members of the Michigan House have so far requested $4 billion for what are officially known as “legislatively directed spending items.”

Tate’s earmark requests is made up of the following earmarks:

• The Parade Company: $10 million
• The Cultural Center, owned by the Detroit Institute of Art: $8 million
• Charles H. Wright Museum: $6 million
• Wayne County: $5 million
• Invest Detroit Foundation: $3 million
• Downtown Detroit Partnership: $3 million
• Detroit Salon, Inc.: $3 million
• Horatio Williams Foundation: $2.4 million
• Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council: $2 million
• Chance for Life: $1.7 million
• L!fe Leaders, Inc.: $1 million
• Arab American National Museum; Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History; The Zekelman Holocaust Center: $1.5 million
• The Wellness Plan Medical Centers: $1.5 million
• Detroit Boxing Gym: $1 million
• GenesisHOPE $1 million
• College for Creative Studies: $1 million
• Michigan Science Center: $500,000
• Diversified Community Services: $250,000

Some organizations have received earmarks in years past.

For instance, Michigan Capitol Confidential reported in 2022 that the Detroit Boxing Gym pocketed $500,000 from taxpayers.

The same gym, according to a 2024 CapCon article, later received a $2 million grant from the state budget and a separate $1 million state grant. This second grant passed through a regional educational service agency located four counties away from the gym.

The Charles H. Wright Museum was granted $6 million in the 2023 budget and $4.5 million in the 2024 budget.

CapCon also reported that a bill introduced during the 2023-24 legislative term would have created a museum tax authority. The bill also would have allowed a local tax to fund museums in Detroit, including the Charles H. Wright Museum.

The bill was passed but not enacted into law after officials failed to send several lame-duck pieces of legislation to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her signature. CapCon and other media outlets have not been able to determine why Whitmer never received the bills, and inquiries to legislative leadership have gone unanswered.

Invest Detroit received $500,000 from taxpayers in the 2023 budget.

In May, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy sued a state agency over state budget earmarks, also known as district pork projects.

The money is distributed to unvetted organizations, leaving similar entities unable to compete for the funds.

Through earmarks, legislators request money for an organization, and if lawmakers approve the request, funding goes to the intended recipient with no strings attached. There is also no vetting of the organizations or follow-up to ensure the money was spent appropriately.

Tate did not respond to a request for comment.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is currently covering earmarks requested in the 2026 budget. Its reports are not intended to evaluate the quality of the organizations involved but instead to help residents know the state spends taxpayer funds.