• Michigan law House Republicans used to cancel $645M in spending is unconstitutional, according to Attorney General Dana Nessel
  • Nessel said the vote violates a constitutionally enshrined separation of powers and overrides how laws are passed
  • Republican House Speaker Matt Hall is vowing to sue, calling Nessel’s opinion an ‘absurd and incorrect’ reading of state law 

LANSING — When Michigan House Republicans last month unilaterally cut roughly $645 million worth of previously approved state spending, they did so using an unconstitutional portion of state law, according to an opinion issued Wednesday by Attorney General Dana Nessel. 

State Budget Office officials say that means money will resume flowing to affected groups – including a cash assistance program for new moms and an organization that provides wigs to kids with cancer – many of whom were quick to decry the cuts when first made back in December.

House Speaker Matt Hall is not giving up the fight, however. The Richland Township Republican quickly vowed to sue over what he called a “clearly political decision from Dana Nessel,” a Democrat. 

In a 29-page opinion, Nessel said a state law allowing one legislative committee — in this case, the House Appropriations Committee — to override spending approved by the governor and full Legislature violated both “separation of powers” and “bicameralism and presentment” requirements in the Michigan Constitution. 

The former provision limits the ability of one branch of government to act outside of its scope of power; the latter deals with how laws must be debated and passed by both legislative chambers before being presented to the governor for signature.

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“By empowering a single legislative committee to negate the state budget director’s work-project designations, the statute reserves the very administrative control that the separation of powers forbids,” Nessel wrote in her opinion.

“This disapproval mechanism effectively creates a ‘legislative veto’ – or, more accurately, a ‘legislative committee veto,’” she continued “This comprises an unconstitutional reservation of administrative control that interferes with the executive branch’s core function of executing the laws.” 

Nessel’s opinion comes less than one month after the Dec. 10 vote by the GOP-led House Appropriations Committee to unilaterally and abruptly cut just under $645 million in ongoing state work projects that had initially been allocated for fiscal year 2025 but not yet spent. 

In doing so, the committee leveraged a relatively obscure provision in state law that allowed them to lapse the funding without buy-in from the Democratic-led state Senate.

That had resulted in numerous cuts, including: 

  • $159 million in funding for the Make It In Michigan Competitiveness Fund, an economic development program championed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to secure federal funding from legislation like the CHIPS Act 
  • $18.5 million in funding for RxKids, a cash-grant program for pregnant women and new mothers 
  • Grant funding for the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills
  • $56,600 to provide wigs to Michiganders undergoing cancer treatment
  • A $2.5 million pilot study for traffic cameras in school zones
  • $1.3 million in funding for the Office of Global Michigan
  • $1.9 million in grants to symphony orchestras
  • $800,000 for a fire truck in Hamtramck, where officials said they’d already contracted for the new vehicle

Hall has championed the cuts as a way to rein in government spending, which he portrayed as being out of control. Any project funding worth restoring, he argued, would have to re-submit itself to the Legislature for review and reconsideration.

On Wednesday, Hall vowed to take the fight to court. 

“We are going to sue, because Michigan taxpayers need someone to fight for them and stop this absurd and incorrect interpretation of Michigan law,” he said in a statement. 

House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, has already vowed to sue over the attorney general’s Wednesday opinion, which he referred to in a statement as being a “clearly political decision from Dana Nessel,” a Democrat. (Jordyn Hermani/Bridge Michigan)

House Appropriations Chair Ann Bollin also defended the unilateral cuts on Wednesday, arguing her committee had “acted fully within its legal authority under a law that has been on the books for decades.”

“The Legislature has both the authority and the responsibility to oversee how taxpayer dollars are spent,” Bollin, R-Brighton, said in a statement. 

“We exercised that responsibility lawfully and in the best interest of the people of Michigan. Political opinions from the Attorney General’s office will not change that reality, nor will they deter House Republicans from continuing to restore accountability to state government.”

Attorney General opinions are binding on state government departments, including the State Budget Office and treasury, which collect and distribute funding. 

While House Republicans can certainly take the fight to court, the opinion appears “very well reasoned,” said attorney Mark Brewer, former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. 

“One legislative committee can’t veto appropriations that have been passed by the entire Legislature and signed by the governor,” he added. “It’s clearly unconstitutional.” 

Other Democrats were also swift to praise Nessel’s opinion. 

“The opinion issued today by the Attorney General is a lifeline for the countless nonprofit organizations and local governments that have been left in limbo for weeks,” Senate Appropriations Chair Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, said in a statement. 

Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, added that it was her hope the “thousands of people who reached out in distress over the past month can breathe a little easier, knowing that this will not stand.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declined to comment on the matter, instead referring Bridge Michigan to State Budget Office officials. 

In an email obtained by Bridge Michigan, budget officials told state departments that they “concur with the opinion issued by the Attorney General” and are already working to activate spending on previously cut work projects this fiscal year.

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