A Michigan Court of Claims judge has blocked spending on two minor league baseball parks that were part of a spree of pork barrel spending approved in the 2024-2025 state budget. The order issued Tuesday is part of a case that could result in imposing – or re-imposing – constitutional controls on spending decisions made at the state Capitol.
Court of Claims Judge Michael Gadola held the plaintiffs could win their challenge and that there was no harm to the public if funding for upgrades to the ballparks in Lansing and Utica is held up while the case is litigated.
“Thus, it is not apparent that the People will be harmed if this Court issues a preliminary injunction considering the public interest in ensuring that appropriations of taxpayer funds are spent in a constitutional manner and considering the nonurgent nature of the grants in question,” wrote Gadola, who worked for Republican governors and as legal counsel for the House before his appointment to the bench.
“This ruling is a major victory for Michigan taxpayers and the rule of law,” said Patrick Wright, vice president for legal affairs at the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation. “The Michigan Constitution is clear: Lawmakers cannot funnel taxpayer dollars to favored projects and private interests without meeting the constitutional supermajority requirement. The court’s decision prevents additional unconstitutional spending while this case proceeds.”
Wright said it has been a long-standing practice in Lansing to use workarounds that avoid specifically identifying pork-barrel projects in the budget. Although this is not a final ruling in the case, Wright said it should serve as a warning to the Legislature as it crafts this year’s budget.
“Hopefully, it will be a cleaner budget,” he told Michigan Public Radio. “I necessarily believe that that would lead to a smaller budget. Some might disagree, but I do think that’s the case, and we should see a cleaner budget process.”
The Legislature has overhauled the budget process in this session to require specific descriptions attached to the names of legislative sponsors. But that could be changed by future legislatures, said Wright.
“Those are wonderful. I hope that those continue, but they’re not constitutional,” he said. “This is something that the Legislature can’t change its mind upon at a future date absent a supermajority vote.”
The order does not apply to grants for state highway projects or grants to large cultural institutions such as the Detroit Institute of Arts, which have statewide significance.
The case could eventually wind up before the Michigan Supreme Court. The state Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, which administers the grants, had no comment on pending litigation.
