Michigan Senate lags on earmark transparency

Michigan’s 2027 budget negotiations emphasized transparency for legislatively directed spending items. But the two chambers differed widely in their efforts to ensure public discussion of earmarks.

While the House held 20 hearings featuring representatives of organizations requesting public money, the Senate Appropriations Committee held a six-minute hearing on July 1 covering requests for district spending funds included in the state budget.

Legislators can request project funding for legislatively directed spending items, often referred to as earmarks, pork projects or enhancement grants. These items provide public money to nonprofit organizations or local governments.

“As a reminder, as Appropriations chair, one of my biggest priorities has been to not only help people through this budget process, but also make sure that folks have a clear understanding of where their tax dollars are going,” said Sen. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, chairwoman of the Senate committee.

For the fiscal year 2027 budget, the Senate submitted more than 500 spending requests while the House submitted more than 750 spending requests, according to Anthony. She noted that a new law requires spending request forms to be publicly available for at least 45 days before final budget votes.

The Senate posted a screenshot of a spreadsheet noting some earmarks but did not provide additional information. The budget has not been signed into law yet, but proposed spending earmarks appear in a budget analysis.

Anthony did not respond to a request for comment.