Sault Tribe homeless shelter is among projects affected by GOP-led budget cuts

LANSING — Michigan House Republicans are standing by their move to cut more than $600 million without input from the governor or the Democratic-controlled Senate.

“I’m just so proud of our House Appropriations Committee going in there and slashing another $644 million, much of which is waste, fraud and abuse,” Republican House Speaker Matt Hall said Tuesday.

Last week, the Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee chose not to reauthorize hundreds of millions in state funding, a rarely-used authority that can claw back funds that were previously approved and signed into law.

“I think it’s important to have a conversation to figure out what all of this is — to cut the waste, fraud and abuse, to move forward with the valid programs,” said Hall, (R) District 42, Richland Twp. “We’ll put back in the things that they justify, but we’re going to eliminate a lot of waste, fraud and abuse.”

Hall’s comments come as Northern Michigan communities begin to assess the impact of last week’s cuts, which include resources for an Upper Peninsula homeless shelter.

Austin Lowes, the chairman of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, says his community had close to $400,000 revoked with no prior notice from lawmakers.

The tribe received $1.25 million from the state in July 2024 for renovations to its Lodge of Hope homeless shelter, one of the only in the Upper Peninsula.

“I think everyone is blindsided,” Lowes said. “There’s this giant bubble where no services exist for this population, especially for tribal members who face housing insecurity at greater rates than any other race or ethnicity.”

Those renovations were partially complete, but the work stretched into the next fiscal year.

“We went through an appropriation process. We went through a legal process where those funds were awarded the Sault Tribe,” Lowes said. “We built programs and changed the way that we’re offering services, because we now have those financial resources — and for them to get pulled back is really unfortunate.”

Lowes said that the shelter would continue its operations through the funding loss.

Some Michigan Democrats say the cuts are inexcusable.

“Do you consider infrastructure projects for school districts fraud? Funding for public safety — is that abuse?” asked Sen. Sarah Anthony, Senate Democrats’ lead budget negotiator.

Anthony, (D) District 21, Lansing, says that the surprise cuts have left the state of Michigan looking like an unreliable partner.

“Hospitals, nonprofits and workforce partners made hiring decisions — signed contracts with the state, based on the reasonable expectation that these funds would be there. That they could trust our word,” Anthony said.

Sen. John Damoose, (R) District 37, Harbor Springs, raised concerns that the clawback could lead to rushed work in the future.

“It feels like it creates almost a perverse incentive to blow all the dollars you get immediately,” Damoose said.

Later in the day, Hall cast Damoose as a “Republican budget traitor.”

Hall has said that the projects will need to go through a weeks-long waiting period to ensure that requests are made publicly available before they’re considered. That could occur in early 2026.