Brixie, Lansing boxed out of House Appropriations post

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Greater Lansing scored a coup in the state Legislature last term when the chairs of both the House and Senate Appropriations committees were local.

After years of being an afterthought in the appropriations process, Lansing and the surrounding area were fortunate to be at the top of the pile with Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, in the Senate and Angela Witwer, D-Delta Township, in the House. Greater Lansing scored $130 million in special requests in 2023 alone.

Angela Witwer
Angela Witwer

This time, that’s not the case. 

Anthony is staying as the lead budget person in the Senate, where Democrats remain in the majority. 

However, the Republicans took control of the House, costing Democrats the post that Angela Witwer of Delta Township had been filling. The new speaker’s pick is from Livingston County.

There was hope that a Democrat from the Greater Lansing delegation would be named minority vice chair. That didn’t happen either, but that was not because of a lack of interest.

At the front of the line was Rep. Julie Brixie, D-Okemos. She made it known in questionnaires circulated by House Speaker Matt Hall and Democratic Leader Ranjeev Puri that she wanted to be Appropriations minority vice chair.

On paper, her resumé would seem to rise to the top.

Elected to her fourth term in the state House, no Democrat has more experience on the committee than Brixie. Before her state House service, she was Meridian Township’s elected treasurer for 10 years. Before that, she was a two-term trustee on the Meridian Township board.

“I believe my decades of budget experience can be an asset,” Brixie said.

Early in the appointment process, Brixie’s name was floated as minority vice chair behind closed doors by Democratic staff. Numerous sources say that the message sent back by Hall and the Republican majority was clear: No.

Several years ago, Brixie was outspoken in her criticism of conservative Rep. Matt Maddock when he proposed selling the Blue Water Bridge and a pair of state-owned airports in Southeast Michigan.

She went public with the legal and practical reasons neither proposal would make the state much, if any, money. The two proposals were quietly shelved, and Republicans were agitated that Brixie had so deftly shut the door on a pair of their ideas.

If she were put in the minority vice chair role, what would Republicans expect? Likely more of the same. Brixie would have no problem doing what good Appropriations minority vice chairs do: put up seemingly logical amendments and force the majority to take bad votes against them in the appropriations process.

In short, Brixie would have been a pain in the rear.

Realizing that Brixie was a no-go, Puri and the House Democrats’ Committee on Committee’s process suggested Rep. Will Snyder, D-Muskegon, a more traditional Democrat who doesn’t have Brixie’s overtly progressive and rabble-rousing reputation.

But by then, Hall had decided on Rep. Alabas Farhat, D-Dearborn, a now-second term member who, at age 24, has quickly become a favorite in Lansing as a legislator beyond his years in making legislation happen.

When Witwer made it clear she didn’t care which committee assignments she got, Farhat made a hard push for Appropriations minority vice chair. Hall figured he could work with Farhat and picked him.

So, did Hall, in effect, punish the Democrats by not appointing Brixie?

Asked this question, Brixie responded, “I’m unwilling to speculate if Speaker Hall is punishing Democratic House members. However, having served on the Committee on Committees, I can say that Leader Puri led the most transparent committee assignments of the four terms I’ve been in the Legislature.”

Puri recommended Brixie for vice chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Medicaid and Behavioral Health, which oversees an enormous state budget.

Whether Speaker Hall puts her there is still to be determined.

“I’m hopeful that I’ll be assigned to my other priorities, and I look forward to working together with Republicans in that role,” she said. “I am eager to roll up my sleeves and get to work on the budget.”

 

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