ICYMI: Matt Hall's Failed Leadership in State House

Matt Hall’s historically unproductive Republican caucus has failed to do their job since taking the majority, wasting taxpayer dollars

LANSING - In case you missed it, under Matt Hall’s leadership, the state House has been a historic failure for Michiganders, sending just six bills to Governor Whitmer’s desk in as many months. Despite cashing every tax dollar in his paycheck, Matt Hall seemingly hasn’t felt the need to actually do any part of his job to earn that salary - he’s probably too busy taking trips to kiss Trump’s ring to hold a session. 

Because his caucus can’t manage to do their jobs, Matt Hall and Republicans are bringing Michiganders closer and closer to a government shutdown every day. While Senate Democrats have been at the negotiating table in good faith, the Republican House can’t even seem to find the table. 

When Democrats had the majority, the legislature expanded civil rights, created jobs, and still managed to get the budget done by the July 1st deadline. The difference this year? Matt Hall - and, unfortunately, it’s Michigan taxpayers who pay the price. 

Read more about Hall’s failure to lead below: 

Bridge Michigan: 6 laws in 6 months: Michigan’s divided Legislature off to slowest start in decades

• Michigan’s newly divided Legislature is off to the slowest start in two decades, sending just one bill a month to the governor’s desk through the first half of the year, according to a Bridge Michigan review. 
• Legislative records show the six bills approved so far by both the Democratic-led Senate and Republican-led House are by far the fewest in the past 20 years. 
• The next lowest total was in 2007, when a divided Legislature sent 31 bills to then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s desk before July 1 — more than five times as many as this year…
• But that’s just an excuse, according to Democratic Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks of Grand Rapids, who argued the Legislature’s recent failure to finalize a state budget by a July 1 deadline is proof that lawmakers are struggling to accomplish even legally required tasks.
• “The ongoing painful budget negotiations are a good illustration of why it has been so challenging to get bills to the governor’s desk this year,” Brinks said in a statement to Bridge. 
• “Obstructionism is not a policy agenda, and Michiganders expect us to find common ground,” she added…
• “At some point, you have to have multiple good actors to pass legislation,” Chair Curtis Hertel told Bridge on Wednesday. “I think it’s pretty obvious who the problem is.”
• Hertel, a former state senator who later worked as Whitmer’s legislative liaison, joked that there are more bills sitting in the House Clerk’s office “from last session that (Hall) refuses to send to the governor than bills from this session that have been sent to the governor…”
• Hall has blocked other transparency legislation approved by the Senate, however, declining to hold a vote on a plan that would open up the Legislature and governor’s office to public records requests…