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Michigan state legislators propose new limits on governor’s budget powers (2019)

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November 5, 2019

On November 5, Republican leaders of the Michigan Legislature, Lee Chatfield and Mike Shirkey, asked Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer to agree to changes to the State Administrative Board’s powers that limit its ability to transfer funds whenever spending bills contain specific directions for that money. The changes are part of a negotiation to pass a supplemental spending bill for the fiscal year that began on October 1.

On September 29, Governor Whitmer transferred $625 million of funds among state departments using the powers of the State Administrative Board. In one instance, Whitmer and the Board shifted funds to public transit that the legislature had approved for roads. According to The Detroit News, Whitmer was the first governor since the early 1990s to use the Board’s transfer authority. Beyond the transfers, Whitmer vetoed $947 dollars of funds for various programs out of the $59.9 billion fiscal year plan passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature.

Republicans in the state legislature want to limit the power of the State Administrative Board to transfer funds designated for certain purposes by the legislature. On October 29, Governor Whitmer sent a letter to the Republican leaders of the Michigan House and Senate agreeing to negotiate a supplemental spending bill to fund some of the items she vetoed and restore some of the money she transferred away from their preferred programs as long as they did not vote to “gut state executive authority that’s been around for 98 years.”

According to its website, the State Administrative Board “has general supervisory control over the administrative activities of all state departments and agencies.” The Board is made up of the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer, superintendent of public instruction, and the director of the Department of Transportation.

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