State Rep. Rachelle Smit today voted against a $82.5 billion spending plan that prioritizes pet projects over the critical needs of Michigan residents in the new state budget.

Smit said the plan relies on a tax increase that has families, seniors and small businesses handing over more of their hard-earned money to the state, while raiding teachers’ retirement accounts to the tune of $670 million. Meanwhile, the budget drastically reduces school safety funding and ignores local roads that are badly in need of repair.

“Democrats continue to be completely clueless when it comes to prioritizing what really matters,” Smit said. “This budget plan benefits very specific projects in targeted areas of the state rather than focusing on universal statewide necessities like infrastructure, safety, and essential services.”

The new budget cuts school safety and mental health grant funding by more than $300 million, leaving just $26.5 million to help schools fund resource officers, mental health services, and other critical programs that protect kids. Following the passage of the budget, the teacher’s union even issued a public statement calling for the Legislature to rethink the school safety cuts and pass supplemental funding to back student mental health and safety efforts.

The statement from MEA President and CEO Chandra Madafferi reads:

“There were deep cuts to categorical funding for school safety and student mental health — cuts that will need to be navigated at the local level to keep our schools safe learning spaces for all students and employees. Our hope is that state lawmakers will return after the summer break to pass a supplemental budget that funds these critical student mental health and safety priorities.”

Pet projects like a $7.5 million drone program, $3 million in incentives for people who purchase e-bikes, and a $25 million program to build state-owned EV charging stations received funding. A commission to coordinate a celebration marking the U.S. semiquincentennial two years from now also received $5 million.

The budget also funds hundreds of millions of dollars in pork projects that were added at the last minute, including $17 million for zoos in Lansing and Metro Detroit, $2.5 million for professional baseball stadiums, $5 million for a Detroit theater, $18 million for various public and private sports facilities, $1.9 million for a pool in Saginaw, and $300,000 to cover public Wi-Fi in downtown Detroit.

Past recipients of these “enhancement” grants have misused state funding, including one prominent MEDC appointee who created a new business and then used a $20 million grant to pay for pricey first-class plane tickets and even a $4,500 coffee maker.

A $500 million earmark is included in the budget for the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) fund, which funds handouts for big corporations that promise to invest in economic development projects, even though needed reforms to improve transparency and accountability have not been made.

The new state budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 was pushed through the House early this morning in two party-line votes.

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