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Michigan House unanimously passes bill to tighten grant reporting, HB 4420
Summary
The Michigan House passed House Bill 4420, which amends the Management and Budget Act to apply a disclosure standard to both legislative chambers and require clearer public reporting on grants; the bill passed 108-0 and was given immediate effect.
The Michigan House of Representatives on the floor moved and passed House Bill 4420, a change to the Management and Budget Act that applies a disclosure standard to both chambers and requires clearer reporting of grant funding. The bill passed by roll-call vote, 108-0, and the House ordered immediate effect.
Representative Ben Koontz, the bill's sponsor, said the measure “applies the disclosure standard to both chambers of the legislature” and “requires grants to be clear, reporting where the money is going, and for the funds to be used where they have been allocated.” Koontz argued the change “increases accountability by making spending decisions visible to the public.”
Koontz told colleagues that the measure is intended to make transparency a permanent feature of Michigan’s budget process: “Transparency should be a permanent part of how Michigan does business,” he said on the House floor.
The bill was reported to the floor from the Appropriations Committee with a recommendation and then advanced through second and third reading. After debate, the clerk opened and closed a record roll-call. The clerk announced there were 108 aye votes and 0 nay votes; the presiding officer declared the bill passed. The majority floor leader then moved for immediate effect, which the House ordered by voice vote.
No amendments that changed the bill’s public reporting requirements were recorded on the floor during the third-reading discussion. The bill amends the Management and Budget Act (statutory citation: Management and Budget Act — as amended) to specify disclosure and reporting expectations; details of statutory text and effective dates were not read into the record on the floor and are not specified in the transcript excerpts cited here.
Passage of HB 4420 follows the committee recommendation reported earlier on the daily calendar and was accompanied by sponsor remarks emphasizing transparency and accountability in state grant spending. The House concluded the bill’s immediate effect motion on the floor before moving to other items on the calendar.
