“From the moment House Republicans weaponized this rare provision to unilaterally, and without discussion, cut $645 million in appropriated funding for kids with cancer, sexual assault survivors, firefighters and police, and thousands of other cities, non-profits and Michiganders, House and Senate Democrats began fighting back. The uncertainty and chaos that these attempted cuts caused, not to mention the cruelty in slashing programs for vulnerable moms and babies, veterans and more, was both unprecedented and completely unwarranted.

 

Republicans were so desperate to try and claim a win after a year of failures — an overdue budget, an inability to pass meaningful legislation to lower costs for working Michiganders, and the cowardice of party members who can’t actually protect their communities from their showboating leader — they took a chainsaw to funding that had already been promised to communities and organizations across the state. Even more ridiculous, they tried to call jeopardizing trust in state government ‘eliminating waste.’

 

That this blind hacking at the credibility of our institution turned out to be a failure is not surprising; that the failure was another losing attempt by their washed-up Speaker to grab more power is on brand for a man so self-obsessed he’d brag about naming a bill after himself while doing nothing to make groceries or health insurance more affordable. To attempt these cuts in the first place underscored how out of touch Republicans are with what the people of Michigan really want and need, and I’m grateful to know that the state Constitution is on our side, and these cuts are being stopped before they can do any more damage.”