New House Appropriations Committee Chair Ann Bollin (R-Brighton) and Majority Vice Chair Matt Maddock (R-Milford) are in Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township)’s lineup to “stand up to Sarah Anthony,” Hall said Tuesday during his announcement.
In the House Appropriations room Tuesday for a 12:30 p.m. press conference, Hall, Bollin and Maddock walked up to a podium in front of cameras, teed up to announce their positions on the budget-making committee. But first, Hall made sure to mention that Senate Appropriations Chair Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing), Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and State Budget Director Jen Flood are tough negotiators and “somebody is gonna have to stand up for the taxpayers.”
“Somebody has to go back and look at (the budget) and try to find some value for the taxpayers, and you look at all these great ideas that Sarah Anthony and the governor and others came up with . . .” Hall said.
What was news to Rep. Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn) and the rest of his caucus, too, was that Hall chose him to be minority vice chair on the committee.
“I don’t know if we told him that, yet,” Hall said. Until about that moment, Farhat didn’t know.
MIRS later learned the Democratic caucus’ committee on committees had recommended Rep. Will Snyder (D-Muskegon) for the position, but Hall said he didn’t know this when he made the pick.
Hall said several Democratic members had approached him privately for the post.
During the press conference, the Speaker slipped in that he’s seen a track record of Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton) trying to punish his members. He segued that into saying the Appropriations Committee’s priority will be to fix roads without raising taxes.
“Thank God they just found a billion. You have to be excited about that, Chair Anthony,” Hall said.
Bollin said this next budget will be a “principle budget, not a political budget.”
“Just because CREC reported on Friday that we have $1 billion that we didn’t really anticipate doesn’t mean we should spend it and that it’s forever. We don’t print money here in the state of Michigan,” Bollin said.
After Bollin and Maddock both spoke, Hall returned to talking about Puri on WKAR’s Off the Record on Friday. He brought up a point he made last week during a media roundtable, that the first change in the rules the Dems asked for would remove the earmark transparency rule.
“A lot of people think I should leak this document, but all you people in the press know, I am not a leaker, I’m not gonna leak it, I really want to leak it, cause if you guys saw these rules they wanted, you’d probably all become Republicans,” Hall said.
Hall said he would be concerned if he was a “reasonable member” of the Democratic caucus that was trying to collaborate. Then he said he’s working through the Democrats’ committee selections. He said he’s considering “how can they each contribute to this body without being punished by their leadership.”
After some more talk about finding a billion and fixing roads and getting rid of MEGA credits, Hall spotted Farhat in the room.
“Sorry to catch you off-guard here,” Hall said to him as he invited Farhat to the podium to address the press.
“I’m still composing what exactly to say right now. I see Chairwoman Anthony here, somebody I’m going to be leaning on for advice and guidance throughout the term,” Farhat said.
As Farhat walked away following his statement, Hall stopped him.
“Just a moment, representative, I’ll say a couple of things,” Hall said. “Number one, I’d be willing to give you input on these committee assignments. I think you have a good handle on your caucus and I think that we want to work with you collaboratively to set up a committee that will help us work together to help the people of Michigan . . . I will give you the opportunity to give us that feedback,” Hall said.
When asked about eliminating wasteful spending, Maddock said Hall has done a great job with oversight.
“There’s gonna be oversight like you’ve never seen in this town in probably 50 years,” Maddock said.
The press conference lasted about 50 minutes, bumping right up to the session. Later in the day, Puri announced the recommendations for committees that his caucus’ committee on committees created, which listed Snyder as the preferred minority vice chair. Farhat is listed as a recommended member.
Puri said that the committee on committees, chaired by Rep. Jasper Martus (D-Flushing), followed a process that he’s confident in. Puri said the committee operated independently of him.
Hall isn’t using the committee on committees’ model to make his appointments this term. Puri said that difference in approaches has created uncertainty about what the outcome will be.
“I’m extremely proud of the body of work that was put together on our side. The ball is now in Speaker Hall’s court,” Puri said. “It’s up to Speaker Hall and his team if they want to stay true to their early messages of working together and find solutions that work for the state of Michigan or if they want to politicize the committee process.”
When asked if he thinks Hall’s decision to announce Farhat’s appointment without notice was an attempt to sow discord between Democrats, Puri said his caucus honored its process in a way that was fair and met the needs of the caucus.
Behind the scenes, Democrats were as caught off guard with the Farhat decision as anyone. The internal discussion was about whether to suggest Snyder or former House Appropriations Committee Chair Angela Witwer (D-Lansing) for the vice chair post. Farhat apparently wasn’t in the mix, and there’s some chatter in Dem circles now whether he should accept it.
Ten years ago, the minority Democrats wanted Rep. Brandon Dillon as the ranking Dem on House Appropriations. Then-House Speaker Kevin Cotter said no and appointed Rep. Pam Faris instead. Faris said no, leading to her removal from the committee entirely and all 11 Democratic members on the committee signing a letter declining to accept the position. So, instead, Cotter picked someone who wasn’t on the committee, Rep. Harvey Santana (D-Detroit), who said yes.
If Democrats try a similar approach this year and all stand in unison behind Snyder, Hall could always turn around and pick independent-minded Democrat Rep. Karen Whitsett (D-Detroit) to be minority vice chair. The Committee on Committees suggested Whitsett for a seat on the Health Policy and Energy committees.
If you find yourself wondering when the last time a speaker didn’t honor the committee assignment recommendations of the minority leader was, look no further than just two years ago when then-Speaker Rep. Joe Tate (D-Detroit) appointed Rep. Sarah Lightner (R-Springport) for minority vice chair of Appropriations rather than Hall’s pick, former Rep. Andrew Fink.
Article courtesy MIRS News for SBAM’s Lansing Watchdog newsletter
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