Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) seems all but certain to run for president, and voters need to know about a uniquely concerning part of her record. She has overseen an explosion of earmarks — the pork-barrel spending that politicians dole out without regard to taxpayers — including more than a billion dollars in her latest state budget alone. More taxpayer-funded goodies are surely on the way.
But there’s a problem: This pork-barrel spending is a direct violation of the Michigan Constitution. The Mackinac Center, where I work, is suing to stop Whitmer and any other Michigan politician. People outside the Great Lakes State should take note, because we should want our top executive officer to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution, not ignore it when convenient.
The Michigan Constitution is clear: The legislature can’t pass, and the governor can’t sign, any bill that benefits specific localities, entities, and private parties. That’s the definition of pork-barrel spending, and the only way around the ban is to get a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the legislature. That threshold is rarely reached, and barely three of the last 10 budgets met it.
But every budget, without fail, directs money to specific cities and groups anyway. That’s because state leaders have come up with a clever way to conceal what they’re doing. Instead of naming the place or organization that’s getting the money, they say it will only go to something that fits incredibly narrow parameters. Inevitably, there’s only one candidate that fits the bill, and presto, it gets taxpayer money.
The lack of regard for the Constitution is astounding. Whitmer’s last budget awarded $18 million to projects in four cities, three of which had populations within a thousand-person range. Only three cities could possibly qualify. The fourth city had to be within a 100-person range of 48,800 to 48,900 people — an obvious handout intended for one recipient. Another pork-barrel project had to meet population requirements at the city and county levels. It was clearly meant for a baseball team’s privately owned field in a suburb north of Detroit.
If only the waste and abuse stopped at a baseball field. Whitmer and her allies have funded a cricket field, a curling center, a distillery, labor unions, a green energy nonprofit organization, developers, and many other special interests. Some recipients are directly connected to Whitmer herself, including a donor and political appointee who got $20 million for a nonprofit organization. Never mind that the nonprofit group didn’t even exist when the money was allocated. It was only created 10 days later. That group is now under criminal investigation for its lavish spending, including first-class plane tickets and a coffeemaker that costs more than many used cars. Spending like this is clearly not in the public’s interest.
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To be fair, Whitmer and her fellow Democrats aren’t the only ones doing an end-run around the Michigan Constitution. Republicans love their earmarks, too, and used the same shady strategy. But it’s exploded during Whitmer’s term as governor. Nothing is easier than throwing taxpayer money at local special interests. And as Whitmer continues to increase the size of the Michigan budget, it’s all but certain that earmarks grow with it. In fact, her administration has responded to our lawsuit by essentially arguing that, even if the handouts are illegal, the courts have no authority to stop the government from continuing the payments once they’ve begun.
But the state Constitution couldn’t be clearer: Pork-barrel spending has no place in Michigan. We’re asking the courts to put an end to the tricks Whitmer and lawmakers use to keep their taxpayer-funded goodies for friends. If our governor is going to run for president, she’ll have to win friends the old-fashioned way: By convincing them that her policies and principles will make America better off. That’s certainly preferable to enriching the few at the expense of the many.
James M. Hohman is director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.