Michigan House Republicans’ views on the state budget are reaching the White House.
In a social media post Monday morning, President Donald Trump shared a video from conservative media personality Christina Aguayo. The video echoed claims from House Republicans that departments are using funding for vacant state jobs to pad their budgets.
At a press conference last week, Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) suggested it could be up to $750 million spent on what Republicans are criticizing as “phantom jobs.” But, as the Detroit News reported, state officials and nonpartisan analysts are seeing it differently.
Robert Schneider with the Citizens Research Council of Michigan said department budgets usually account for a certain amount of turnover. He said, despite being authorized for a certain number of full-time equivalent jobs, agencies mainly just get money for the staff they have.
“The funding in the budget is going to reflect what the typical onboard staff is for that program, not necessarily the full FTE amount that’s in the budget,” Schneider said.
House Republicans said their budget proposal cuts back on what they describe as “waste, fraud, and abuse” by getting rid of money for those vacant positions.
Schneider, however, questioned where that money ever actually existed in many cases.
“If they think what they cut was just sort of fluff in the budget and funded positions that were vacant, I think their assessment was wrong,” Schneider said.
He said it’s likely some of the House-proposed cuts would show up in cuts to programs, not just the people who administer them.
On Monday, the Michigan Department of State sent out a press release warning the proposal could cost around 400 jobs from her department.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have suggested this year’s budget will likely have to be smaller than in years past. Regardless of where those cuts will come from, the House, Senate, and governor’s office will have to find some agreement by next month or face a partial government shutdown.
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