SENATE BILL NO. 596

October 02, 2025, Introduced by Senator ANTHONY and referred to Committee on Appropriations.

A bill to amend 1984 PA 431, entitled

"The management and budget act,"

(MCL 18.1101 to 18.1594) by adding section 364.

the people of the state of michigan enact:

Sec. 364. (1) A legislator may request a legislatively directed spending item by submitting a request using the applicable appropriation request system. A request for a legislatively directed spending item must include, at a minimum, all of the following:

(a) The name of the requesting legislator.

(b) The total amount of the ?legislatively directed spending item and the total estimated cost of the project.

(d) The purpose of the legislatively directed spending item, including any expected outcomes and deliverables.

(e) A statement that the legislatively directed spending item will not create a conflict of interest.

(f) If the proposed recipient is a nonprofit entity, both of the following:

(i) Verification that the entity is a nonprofit entity.

(ii) Information about the entity's management structure.

(g) A statement that the proposed recipient is not a for-profit entity.

(2) A legislator must submit a request for a legislatively directed spending item before the date that the appropriations bill containing the legislatively directed spending item is passed by that legislator's chamber the first time. However, the senate and house of representatives may require, by rule, that a legislator submit a request for a legislatively directed spending item at an earlier date. A legislator that does not hold a leadership position may not request a legislatively directed spending item for an intended recipient or location that is not located within, or that would not benefit the residents of, the legislator's district or a county, any part of which is located within the legislator's district.

(3) An entity that is not a governmental entity is eligible for a legislatively directed spending item if the entity was in existence for more than 2 years before the date that the legislatively directed spending item is requested under subsection (1).

(4) The senate and house of representatives shall each establish pages on their existing websites that are accessible to the public at no cost and that contain information regarding a legislatively directed spending item. After a request is submitted under subsection (1) or a bill that contains a legislatively directed spending item is enacted into law, the senate and house of representatives shall post all of the following information for each legislatively directed spending item on the respective page:

(a) The name of the legislator who submitted the request for the legislatively directed spending item and of each legislator who cosponsored the request.

(b) The name of the recipient of the legislatively directed spending item.

(d) A description of the legislatively directed spending item.

(e) The total amount of the legislatively directed spending item.

(f) The state department or agency that is administering the legislatively directed spending item.

(g) For a legislatively directed spending item that is contained in a bill or that has been enacted into law, the section of the bill or law that contains the legislatively directed spending item.

(h) The contact information of the recipient or proposed recipient.

(5) The department shall establish and maintain a website that lists information for each legislatively directed spending item included in an appropriations bill that is enacted into law. The website must be available to the public at no cost. The website must include all of the following information for each legislatively directed spending item:

(a) The name of the recipient or location of the legislatively directed spending item.

(b) The name of the legislator who requested the legislatively directed spending item.

(d) A description of the legislatively directed spending item.

(e) The state department or agency that is administering the legislatively directed spending item.

(f) For a legislatively directed spending item that is contained in a bill or that has been enacted into law, the section of the bill or law that contains the legislatively directed spending item.

(g) The status of the legislatively directed spending item.

(h) The status of the legislatively directed spending item agreement.

(i) Whether the legislatively directed spending item agreement has been amended and, if so, a description of the amendment.

(6) The department or, if applicable, the state department or agency that is administering a legislatively directed spending item, shall do all of the following:

(a) Post the information described in subsection (5) on the website or on the state department's or agency's website, and provide the information described in subsection (5) to the department.

(b) Update the information on the applicable website to reflect whether the department or the state department or agency has made contact with the recipient.

(7) The state department or agency that is administering a legislatively directed spending item shall, for the duration of the public project, but not to exceed 7 years, ensure that the benchmarks and deliverables of the legislatively directed spending item have been met. The auditor general shall evaluate the management of legislatively directed spending items as part of the auditor general's annual performance audits of state departments and agencies.

(8) A recipient of a legislatively directed spending item shall enter into a legislatively directed spending item agreement. A legislatively directed spending item agreement must require, at a minimum, all of the following:

(a) That the recipient repay the legislatively directed spending item if the recipient uses the appropriation for a purpose other than the purpose for which it was appropriated.

(b) That the legislatively directed spending item not be disbursed if the department determines that the recipient is not using or will not use the appropriation for the purpose for which it was appropriated.

(c) If the recipient is not a governmental entity, that the legislatively directed spending item must not be used to pay a debt obligation or a tax lien.

(d) If the department or state department or agency administering the legislatively directed spending item determines that the recipient is not in compliance with the legislatively directed spending item agreement, that the department or state department or agency may take any action authorized by law to recover funds that have been disbursed to the recipient.

(e) That any interest earned on the funds that have been disbursed to the recipient must be paid to this state.

(9) The department shall do all of the following:

(a) Develop a standard form legislatively directed spending item agreement and a process for legislatively directed spending item recipients to enter into the agreements.

(b) Verify that a legislatively directed spending item recipient meets the eligibility requirements under this section before disbursing the legislatively directed spending item to the recipient.

(c) Notify a legislatively directed spending item recipient of the status of the disbursement of the legislatively directed spending item after the recipient enters into a legislatively directed spending item agreement.

(10) If the department or state department or agency administering a legislatively directed spending item determines that the recipient of the legislatively directed spending item has not satisfied the terms of the legislatively directed spending item agreement, the department or state department or agency shall cease payments to the recipient until the recipient submits a corrective action plan to the department or state department or agency and the department or state department or agency approves the corrective action plan. If the recipient does not submit a satisfactory corrective action plan, the department or state department or agency may cancel the legislatively directed spending item. If the legislatively directed spending item is canceled, the money associated with the legislatively directed spending item remains in the fund from which it was purportedly appropriated, and the money must not be expended from the fund until it is appropriated in accordance with the law.

(11) As used in this section:

(a) "Appropriation request system" means an electronic system established and maintained by the senate or house of representatives that meets both of the following requirements:

(i) Allows a legislator to submit a legislatively directed spending item.

(ii) Is accessible to legislators via the internet.

(b) "Capital outlay" means that term as defined in section 113 of the management and budget act, 1984 PA 431, MCL 18.1113.

(c) "Conflict of interest" means that term as used in the rules of the senate or house of representatives, as applicable.

(d) "Leadership position" means any of the following within the legislature:

(i) The senate majority leader, senate minority leader, speaker of the house, or house minority leader.

(ii) A chair, vice chair, or minority vice chair of an appropriations committee or appropriations subcommittee.

(e) "Legislatively directed spending item" means an appropriation to which all of the following conditions apply:

(i) The appropriation authorizes or obligates a specific amount of money for a contract or other expenditure.

(ii) The recipient of the appropriation is not a state department or state agency and does not administer or provide services, programs, or resources that are required by law to be administered or provided by a state department or state agency.

(iii) The appropriation is a 1-time appropriation and is made in a general appropriations bill or a supplemental appropriations bill.

(iv) The appropriation is not made in accordance with a grant program or other similar program that exists in statute.

(v) The appropriation was not included in an executive budget proposal presented to the legislature under section 323.

(vi) The appropriation was not requested by the state budget office.

(vii) The appropriation is not intended to support a person or governmental entity affected by a declared state of disaster or emergency.

(viii) The appropriation is not for a capital outlay project.

(ix) The appropriation is not a transfer request that seeks a non-competitive allocation from funding that the recipient is by law eligible to receive.

(x) The appropriation is not related to the administration of either of the following:

(A) Funding, the source of which is not this state.

(B) Any state matching funds or other appropriations associated with the requirements of funding, the source of which is not this state.