WHO:  Patrick Wright, vice president for Legal Affairs Mackinac Center for Public Policy

WHAT: Available for media interviews following oral arguments in Mackinac Center for Public Policy v. Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity

WHEN: Following the hearing, which begins at 1 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, September 16

WHERE: Michigan Court of Appeals Courtroom, 925 W. Ottawa St. Lansing, MI or watch the livestream.

To schedule an interview, contact Mackinac Center director of communications, AnnMarie Pariseau at (734) 718-1487 or pariseau@mackinac.org.

LANSING – The Michigan Court of Claims will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit brought by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy challenging the constitutionality of how Michigan lawmakers have approved more than a million dollars in special district projects, often called “pork-barrel” spending.

The state budget process has bypassed constitutional requirements by approving earmarks without the two-thirds supermajority vote mandated by the Michigan Constitution, the lawsuit argues. The Mackinac Center is asking the court to uphold these constitutional safeguards, ensuring that earmarked spending is transparent, lawful, and fair to taxpayers.

Under Michigan’s Constitution, when state lawmakers want to give money to a specific organization or project — like a local nonprofit, a sports facility, or a private business — they must get a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate. This rule aims to ensure that these special funding decisions are broadly supported and carefully reviewed.

But in recent years, lawmakers have gotten around the state Constitution by adding these earmarks into budget bills, often rushed through without the required two-thirds vote or much public debate.

Some of the spending in question includes millions of dollars for two baseball stadiums, but other earmarks have been allocated to a cricket field, a curling center, a distillery, labor unions, developers, donors, and other politically connected groups.

The Mackinac Center’s lawsuit asks the court to stop this practice and require lawmakers to follow the state constitution.

“Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent — and to expect that it’s done legally and fairly,” said Patrick Wright, vice president for legal affairs at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. “Instead, we’re seeing politically connected projects pushed through without proper oversight or the constitutional safeguards that are supposed to be in place. This lawsuit is about restoring integrity and accountability to Michigan’s budget process.”