LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – As promised, the Michigan House fired back with a lawsuit against Attorney General Dana Nessel after she blocked lawmakers from restricting $644 million in leftover taxpayer funds they say were tied up in waste, fraud, and abuse.

“Slush funds” and “nonsense.”

House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) said they filed the complaint for immediate injunctive relief and a temporary restraining order in the Michigan Court of Claims. He called Nessel’s ruling last week a “power trip” and said the Legislature is committed to ending “this nonsense.”

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Hall stated, “Dana Nessel’s recent opinion to allow government slush funds to keep spending these hundreds of millions of dollars of waste, fraud, and abuse on things like illegal alien welfare, diversity festivals, and the Biden-era green energy scheme was purely political and extremely flawed.”

On Wednesday, Attorney General Dana Nessel issued an opinion regarding the unspent funds at the end of the last calendar year, saying the Legislature’s denial of those projects violates the separation of powers by state work projects. As previously reported, unspent funds at the end of the year require the State Budget Office (SBO) to file requests to have those funds rolled over into work project accounts. The Legislature said “no” to those requests in December.

State departments feel the HEAT.

It’s not just Nessel in the hotseat. The Michigan House of Representatives filed suit against 31 departments and department heads to prevent them from utilizing the “the slush funds,” according to Hall.  Last November, the legislature adopted the Hall Ethics, Accountability, and Transparency plan (HEAT) plan to combat what he calls the “often-hidden budget process in the Michigan Legislature.” HEAT, which is now in effect, focuses on budget earmark transparency, disclosures of legislator spending requests, the amount requested, where the money is going, and that discussion be held 45 days before a budget vote.

Other departments tied up in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit filed by House Republicans aims to halt 31 state departments from spending the previously denied fund. Those include:

  • The Department of State and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson
  • The Department of Health and Human Services and Director Elizabeth Hertel
  • The Michigan Economic Development Corporation and CEO Quentin Messer
  • The Department of Natural Resources and Director Scott Bowen
  • The Department of Education and State Superintendent Dr. Glenn Maleyko
  • The Department of Technology, Management and Budget and Director Michelle Lange
  • The State Budget Office and Director Jen Flood
  • The Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity and Director Susan Corbin
  • The Department of Treasury and Director Rachael Eubanks
  • The Department of Corrections and Director Heidi Washington
  • The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy and Director Phillip Roos
  • The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and Director Marlon Brown
  • The Department of Transportation and Director Bradley Wieferich
  • The Michigan Strategic Fund
  • The Michigan Gaming Control Board and Executive Director Henry Williams
  • The Bureau of State Lottery and Acting Commissioner Joseph Froehlich