SENATE BILL NO. 319

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 house of the legislature shall not pass an appropriations bill that includes a legislatively directed spending item unless all of the following requirements are met:

(a) The legislatively directed spending item is sponsored by a legislator.

(b) The sponsoring legislator provides a written statement that contains all of the following information to the chairs of the senate and house of representatives appropriations committees, the senate and house fiscal agencies, and the legislative council:

(i) The sponsoring legislator's name.

(ii) The name and location of the intended recipient or, if there is not an intended recipient, the intended location of the project or activity.

(iii) The purpose of the legislatively directed spending item and an explanation of why the legislatively directed spending item is an appropriate use of taxpayer funds.

(iv) A description of any community support.

(v) A certification that neither the sponsoring legislator nor the sponsoring legislator's immediate family has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in the legislatively directed spending item.

(c) The written statement has been available to the public on the internet as described in subsection (2) for not less than 48 hours.

(2) The legislative council shall make each written statement received under subsection (1) available to the public on the internet as soon as practicable after the receipt of the information.

(3) As used in this section:

(a) "Community support" includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(i) A letter of support from an elected community leader.

(ii) A press article highlighting the need for the funding.

(iii) Support from a newspaper editorial board.

(iv) A community development plan or other publicly available planning document that includes the item for which funding is sought.

(v) A resolution passed by the governing body of a community.

(b) "Immediate family" means an individual's parent, child, sibling, and spouse and a relative of any degree residing in the same household as that individual.

(c) "Legislative council" means the legislative council created under the legislative council act, 1986 PA 268, MCL 4.1101 to 4.1901.

(d) "Legislatively directed spending item" means an appropriation that authorizes or obligates a specific amount of money for a contract or other expenditure with or a grant, loan, or other economic assistance or incentive to a person, unit of local government, or project or activity in a unit of local government, other than through a formula-driven or competitive award process. An appropriation may be a legislatively directed spending item regardless of whether the allocation of the appropriation is based on population figures or whether the appropriation has a private or local purpose. Legislatively directed spending item includes, but is not limited to, Michigan enhancement grants and Michigan infrastructure grants.

(e) "Legislator" means a person duly elected and serving in the Michigan house of representatives or the Michigan senate.

(f) "Sponsoring legislator" means the legislator who sponsors a legislatively directed spending item under subsection (1)(a).