LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan judge will consider pausing millions of dollars in taxpayer money that lawmakers approved for two baseball stadiums that an advocacy group believes violate the Michigan Constitution.Judge Brock Swartzle, during a Tuesday hearing in the state Court of Claims, said he would rule by the end of the year on a motion by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy to temporarily halt the grants.The case seeks to rein in the state earmark process, which lawmakers in recent years have used to add billions of dollars to state budgets for pet projects in their districts. Last year, lawmakers narrowly approved a budget that included $2.5 million for the Lansing Lugnuts stadium and another baseball field in Utica. The Mackinac Center argues lawmakers violated the Michigan Constitution.An attorney for the state, which is defending the earmarks, said Tuesday that only $200,000 of the money has already been disbursed.
The center, a free market, nonprofit think tank, alleged the grants — part of a sweeping spending bill signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — violated rules that prohibit lawmakers from approving “private or local” projects unless they are approved by two-thirds of both the House (74 votes) and Senate (26 votes).
