LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Michigan’s budget truce is unraveling just weeks after lawmakers approved an $84 billion state spending plan, as new legislation and transparency disputes spark fresh tensions between the House and Senate.
On Tuesday, the Senate passed Senate Bills 276 and 277, which would raise hunting and fishing license fees and create a new “complete license” option to increase funding for wildlife programs through the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The move goes against a key budget agreement reached earlier this month, when negotiators agreed to forego any license fee hikes and pass a bipartisan government transparency plan.
House leaders say the Senate’s vote violates that deal, and that the bills are dead on arrival in their chamber.
“We will never raise hunting and fishing fee licenses as long as I’m Speaker,” said House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township). “They tried so many different ways, and we blocked it on everything. Now they’re just pouting, they’re just passing it anyway. You can pass it through your chamber, but it will never move.”
The House’s transparency plan, passed as part of the final budget, requires lawmakers to disclose earmark spending projects 90 days before the budget deadline. Senate Democrats are now proposing to reduce that window to 10 days, a change Hall says undermines the spirit of the deal.
“That’s not fair disclosure,” Hall said. “Under these ideal budget practices, you’d already have a deal in place 10 days out. That’s unacceptable. It’s not what we agreed to.”
Meanwhile, leaders in the Senate argue that the increases are necessary to maintain conservation programs and infrastructure. But Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Wacedah Township) blasted the move as irresponsible.
“We’re going to foist a huge fee and tax increase on sportsmen and women in this state to fund a department that won’t use the dollars to do the things they said they’re going to do,” McBroom said. “They have no faith, no confidence from sportsmen and women around this state. People are up to their ears in frustration with this department… and we’re going to give them more money. It’s unbelievable.”
The House and Senate have just over two months left in the legislative year, and Speaker Hall says the breakdown in trust could stall other bipartisan priorities, including economic development and the property tax changes.
“If the Senate Democrats don’t perform on the commitments they made… we’re going to have a hard time moving forward on a lot of things,” Hall said.
With the chambers divided on both fiscal policy and transparency reforms, it remains unclear how much common ground lawmakers will find before the end of the year.
