Gretchen Whitmer Tries to Sneak One Past House Republicans 7/9/2026

Lansing, MI – While working to secure conservative budget wins, like shrinking the budget and stopping fraud, House Republicans were also fighting Governor Gretchen Whitmer on her idea to make her corporate handout scheme, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), less transparent.

For starters, the governor tried to quietly remove a budget provision that requires the MEDC to report its spending and revenue, including grants and programs funded from the Business Attraction and Community Revitalization line item. In other words, Whitmer wants the MEDC to be able to give away taxpayers’ money to massive corporations without telling anyone.

The governor also sought to remove a provision from the budget that barred MEDC employees who are involved in private fundraising from being awarded grants and incentives of their own. 

Fortunately, House Republicans fought to keep those provisions in the final budget that passed last week. After the enormous Fay Beydoun scandal that wasted millions of taxpayer dollars, rocked the Whitmer administration and led to a criminal indictment, Speaker Matt Hall’s caucus refused to give Gretchen Whitmer the “no questions asked” policy she tried to shoehorn into the budget.

“It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Gretchen Whitmer was seeking to hide spending from taxpayers and from the legislature,” said Gabe Butzke, a spokesperson for Michigan Forward Network. “The governor’s entire tenure has been one example of waste, fraud, and abuse after another.”