- A Michigan nonprofit, Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids, is speaking out after it lost grant funding following an unexpected House vote last week
- House Republicans voted Wednesday to slash $645 million in state work projects, arguing the money should have already been spent
- It’s possible Maggies’ Wigs 4 Kids, as well as other groups, could get the money back after additional discussions with lawmakers
LANSING — A Michigan nonprofit that provides wigs to children with hair loss from cancer or other health conditions is speaking out against a surprise state funding cut, calling the move by House Republicans “unconscionable.”
Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids was among the dozens of groups to see the remainder of their 2025 state funding abruptly pulled last week after the House Appropriations Committee utilized a little-known portion of Michigan law to unilaterally cancel more than half a billion dollars the Whitmer administration had planned to carry over into 2026 as “work projects.”
The St. Clair Shores nonprofit had received a $125,000 earmark in the fiscal year 2025 budget and still had roughly $56,600 left to spend, founder and CEO Maggie Varney said in a statement Monday.
That remaining money for custom wig purchases had only gone untouched because of supply chain issues and tariff-related shipping delays, she said.
“As a nonprofit, we’re not unfamiliar with unpredictable funding,” Varney said in the statement. “However, when the state commits to a grant, we rely on that promise and budget accordingly.
“To have these funds ripped away from our organization simply because the wigs we purchased have a delayed arrival is unconscionable. Not only were we counting on those funds to be available, but the kids we serve were counting on us.”
Related:
- RxKids ‘in limbo’ after surprise cuts by House Republicans
- House cancels $645M in state spending without Senate OK
- Michigan earmarks for fiscal year 2025. See who sponsored, why
Michigan is one of the few states where insurance companies are not required to cover the cost of wigs for children as they would with any other prosthetic, a reality some lawmakers are attempting to change.
House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, last week argued that if organizations had not yet spent their fiscal year 2025 grant funding, then it was appropriate to claw those dollars back in order to “force a discussion about what is the best way to get value for your tax dollars.”
Cuts, while not necessarily permanent, were being used as part of a larger campaign to rein in state government spending in areas potentially deemed as “waste, fraud and abuse,” he said.
House Appropriations Committee Chair Ann Bollin, a Brighton Republican, reiterated those arguments Friday in a television roundtable with reporters.
Bollin said the wigs funding was cut as part of a larger push to reconsider appropriations to nonprofit groups, some of which she said had concerning track records.
“Some of them, some of the good ones, had to go,” Bollin said of the groups previously approved for funding. “There is an opportunity to bring them back through the supplemental process.”
Bollin said she is personally interested in the wigs issue because of a son born with craniofacial birth defects. “I’m very concerned about making sure we can help these kids, regardless of what the reason is,” she said.
Whether Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids will see its funding restored remains to be seen.
State Sen. Kevin Hertel, D-St. Clair Shores, said the organization should immediately receive the remainder of its funding and argued that House Republicans were only interested in scoring “cheap political points” by cutting work project funds.
“Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids is not waste. They’re not fraud or abuse,” said Hertel, whose district includes the nonprofit’s headquarters. “They’re a trusted organization in our community who provides critical services to improve the lives of children facing unimaginable circumstances.”
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