Aug. 29, 2025 | This Week in Government: House Republicans Pass Budget

A spending plan with cuts in nearly every department passed the House on Tuesday quickly after it was presented for the first time following weeks of Democrats calling on majority House Republicans to show their cards on the budget.

The House Republican budget makes cuts to almost every budget area, despite objections from Democrats.

HB 4706 includes the House Republican proposal for the state’s departments and agencies. It totals $54.6 billion ($12.09 billion General Fund). The Executive Office, Legislature, Department of Auditor General, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, and Department of Transportation are the only areas that wouldn’t be cut under the plan.

The bill passed 59-45. Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, voted with the Republican majority.

“We’ve been hounded by the press, by the Senate – we’ve said, the governor’s said, show us your roads plan,” House Appropriations Chair Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton, said. “Well, guess what, they have our whole budget now. We did it. … We’re not budging as much as they’re going to have to budge if they want to get a budget done.”

Coupled with the spending plans for community colleges, higher education, and K-12 schools, the Republican budget proposal is nearly $79 billion. The budget passed by the Senate totaled $84.6 billion, and the executive recommendation proposed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer totaled $83.5 billion.

The spending plan was voted on within the of being released publicly.

House Republicans acted well after the July 1 statutory deadline for a budget to be signed into law. The move comes after weeks of Democrats and other stakeholders calling for a Republican budget so negotiations could begin in earnest.

Also on Tuesday, a little over a month until the end of the fiscal year, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, House Speaker Matt Hall R-Richland Township, and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, met on the budget.

The House Republican plan does boost road funding by more than $3 billion or 50%. Republicans also moved to require departments to prioritize in-person work, report on severance pay to top officials, and provide information on work project status.

Some of the larger cuts are for the Department of Attorney General (down $38.4 million, a 29.6% reduction), Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (down $200 million, a 19.2% reduction), and the Department of Labor and Economic Development (down $1.1 billion, a 46.7% reduction).

The Department of Health and Human Services is split into three categories: Medicaid, Public Health, and Human Services. All saw cuts, The Medicaid portion of the budget was cut by $3.7 billion, the Public Health portion $92.5 million, and the Human Services portion by about $1 billion.

The budget would cut grant programs and the Strategic Outreach Attraction and Reserve Fund. It also eliminates 4,300 unfilled positions, which House Republicans say will free up $560 million, and it requires state employees to return to in-person work.

Additionally, the budget cut the Department of Corrections (down $28.5 million or 1.3%) and the Department of State Police (down $66.3 million, or 7%).

House Democrats criticized the process.

“This has to be the least transparent budget that I have even been a part of, which is more than ironic coming from a speaker who prided himself on being very transparent,” House Minority Leader Rep. Ranjeev Puri, D-Canton Township, said. “There was no time for us to review an 800- page document to understand what we were voting on. …They didn’t allow HFA to give us a full analysis, so we have not been able to review that. This was very authoritarian in terms of how this was presented to us.”

Rep. Alabas Farhat, D-Dearborn, former minority vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee  said the process needed to be better.

“The speaker continues to operate in a silo in the four walls of his office, not engaging with Democratic values at all, with the Senate or the governor,” he said. “The governor and (Senate Majority Leader) Winnie Brinks are ready to negotiate a budget and to avert a government shutdown, and you’ve seen the speaker instead come out and slam the governor for her inaction … on a ‘road funding plan for over two terms.’… Democrats are ready. We’re here. They can reach out to us.”

House Republicans defended the process, saying they held 137 hours of public testimony on the budget, though much of that testimony was dedicated to legislative earmarks.

“We went through the budget, and we eliminated the waste, fraud and abuse in government,” Hall said. “Our subcommittee chairs have never been more engaged in the process. … I would just say, as we’re going forward, (legislative Democrats are) a very negative group of people that have no intention of advocating for a position or supporting any budget. We couldn’t even find a vice chair of the Appropriations Committee on the Democrat side who wants to solve problems an get a budget done, so we just said, look, this committee’s broken. We’re going to move forward with the budget because the people of Michigan expect this budget to be done on time.”

Bollin said transparency looked different during this budget process.

“We have hearings almost every single week. Hearings that ask questions about programs, about projects, not about where you want to go and where you want to spend more but really getting into the meat and potatoes of whether or not these programs and projects are delivering,” she said. “Does that transparency look a little different on the budget? Yes.”

House Republicans touted their spending plan as including $3.1 billion for roads, eliminating taxes on tips and overtime, including $140 million for new public safety investments, and making more than $5 billion in cuts.

“Our budget plan transitions Michigan from a status quo to a let’s go for the taxpayers,” Bollin said during a floor speech. “Instead of adding 3 or 4% to last year’s top line, we poured through it, line by line. We asked tough questions about what was working, what wasn’t working. We followed the money. We shined a light on the prices for tax dollars were being wasted and abused.”

House Democrats objected strongly to House Republican’s proposal.

“Who are we defending in this budget?” Farhat said during a floor speech. “Are we defending the working families of our state?… Or are we trying to defend special interest of the state … when I look at this document that we got about an hour ago, I can only see how much further we’re allowing our state to slide back into a position of mediocrity instead of leading.”

House Democrats did not say they were against any cuts, though.

“We’re all for efficient, effective government,” Farhat said. “We’re all for making sure that we’re delivering the highest level of customer service every single day for Michiganders. …That’s what we all stand for here. We all believe that government can be the best through staunch accountability.”

In the Department of Corrections budget, the House cuts funding for higher education, transitional housing development, and does not include any funding for reimbursing ambulance service providers. Elsewhere in the General Fund budget, however, $6 million in unexpended funds from work projects are made available in the Department of Technology, Management, and Budget to compensate ambulance providers (editor’s note: an earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the status of emergency service reimbursements). The Corrections budget also includes $50 million in General Fund dollars to provide pay increases for corrections officers.

House Republicans said their budget will protect Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid.

“What we did with Medicaid is we said, let’s tailor Medicaid to make it work so that everyone who’s eligible can continue to use Medicaid,” Hall said.

Hospitals criticized the House budget.

“The proposed state budget from the Michigan House of Representatives guts hospital funding and would be disastrous if even a semblance of the cuts eventually makes it into the state budget,” said Brian Peters, Chief Executive Officer of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association, in a statement. “Michigan hospitals already stand to lose more than $6 billion over the next ten years due to federal budget cuts. Slashing more funding that supports delivering healthcare services and the nurses, physicians, and other staff employed by hospitals harms Michigan and our more than 10 million residents.”

Hall defended cuts to rural hospitals

“Our budget funds $250 million for rural hospitals, and they know that,” he said. “I would caution the hospitals. They’re really getting a little too political and they’re siding too much with the Democrats… I really think they should pick their battles because everything they say is going to put them out of business.”

On the cuts to State Police, House Republicans said they wanted to invest in local police because of the controversy with the Director James Grady.

“We’re trying to make investment in local police and county sheriffs so that they can go and lower our violent crime rates,” Hall said.

House Democrats, however, are already accusing potentially vulnerably House Republicans who voted for the proposal of defunding the police.

A Whitmer spokesperson for Brinks addressed the meeting with Hall on the budget ahead the House’s action.

“It was a productive meeting, and our team will stay in close touch with legislators and their staff over the next month to get this done,” a spokesperson for Whitmer said before the House acted on its plan.

Brinks, also before the House presented then passed its proposal, said she has made her frustrations about a lack of proposal heading into September “abundantly clear.”

“It’s 36 days until Oct. 1, and we have a lot of work to do,” she said. “It’s work that we can accomplish, but the games and distractions need to end.”

Dearborn Public Schools Superintendent Glenn Maleyko has been offered the position of superintendent of public instruction by the State Board of Education after a Tuesday evening vote.

Maleyko was selected by the board after two rounds of interviews, the second of which was conducted Tuesday morning. He was chosen over Harrison Community Schools Superintendent Judy Walton and former Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons, who also interviewed for a second time today.

Maleyko has been in the Dearborn Public Schools district for over 25 years, working his way up from a substitute teacher to becoming superintendent in 2015. He was named the 2019 Michigan Superintendent of the Year by the Michigan Association of Superintendents and Administrators. He holds four degrees from Wayne State University, the University of Detroit Mercy, and University of Windsor.

During his interviews, Maleyko focused on his experience leading a large and diverse school district and his considerable ties to education associations around the state and at the national level. Board members noted those factors in the deliberations that ultimately ended with a vote in Maleyko’s favor.

“He has a vast number (of people) from all different corners of life and experiences that have shown up as references. I will say that that tells us that he can come in and work with a diverse sector of stakeholders,” Board President Pamela Pugh said of Maleyko during deliberations. “I have had the opportunity to speak with members of his staff who have appreciated his leadership style. I’ve heard from parents whose only comments or bad thing that I heard was that he would be leaving their child (if he were offered the position).”

The board split 3-5, with members Tom McMillin, Nikki Snyder, and Mitchell Robinson voting against Maleyko and Pugh, Tiffany Tilley, Marshall Bullock, Ellen Cogen Lipton, and Judy Pritchett voting in favor (editor’s note: This story was changed to correct the vote tally). Robinson stated he favored Walton over Maleyko, whereas Snyder and McMillin, the board’s two Republican members, expressed distaste at all of the candidates. Snyder said she felt Maleyko was unprepared compared to Walton and Coons.

Maleyko emphasized on several occasions during his interviews his desire to put students first and place students at the heart of his mission if chosen to be state superintendent, a message that resonated with board members and education groups alike.

Peter Spadafore, executive director of the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity, congratulated Maleyko in a statement.

“Having had the opportunity to work alongside Dr. Maleyko at various statewide leadership tables, I know firsthand the integrity, experience, and student-centered leadership he brings to this critical role. His proven ability to manage one of Michigan’s largest school districts, his deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing public education, and his commitment to students with the greatest needs will serve our state well,” Spadafore said. “This is a pivotal moment for Michigan’s schools, and I look forward to working with Dr. Maleyko and all of our education partners to ensure every child has the opportunity to succeed.”

Each of the three finalists were asked to come to their interviews prepared with a presentation on their “entry plan” if they were to receive the job. Maleyko said his first steps as state superintendent would be meeting individually and in small groups with board members and Department of Education staff and beginning engagement with the rest of the executive branch and the Legislature as well as non-governmental stakeholders.

After that, Maleyko said he would plan to embark on a statewide listening tour to visit local school districts and ISDs to meet with students, parents, and educators. The end goal of the listening tour and stakeholder engagement, he said, would be to “fine tune” MDE’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan Goals to address the latest challenges the state faces in education.

“If the board agrees, what I would like to do is bring the stakeholder groups back, just to look at the plan, maybe to fine tune the Top 10,” Maleyko said in his interview. “We want to compile data from all stakeholders, do a deep, deep dive into Michigan data aligned with the Top 10 goals, triangulate that data. We want to analyze, again, the strengths, opportunities, and challenges that we are facing.”

As the next state superintendent, Maleyko will enter MDE at a time of understaffing, budgetary turmoil, and pressure from all sides to improve Michigan’s educational metrics, while also being tasked with implementing a significant portion of the state’s new literacy and dyslexia laws and navigating what has at times been a tense relationship between MDE, its counterparts at the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential and the office of the governor.

Maleyko feels he’s ready for those challenges, though.

“My career in Michigan in public education, and multiple positions that we talked about throughout the interview, has truly prepared me for this moment. I’m ready to lead on day one … but I also know I’m going to have some learning (to do),” he said. “I’m ready to lead because of all the relationships that have been built across the state to advance student centered policy and practice. What I’ve learned is education is complex, but the mission is simple, whether we’re here debating policy, addressing workforce shortages, or navigating a lot of politics. I am going to say this: if you hire me, you’re going to see me always bring it back to the impact on students.”

If Maleyko accepts the board’s offer, a third-party deep background check will be conducted on him, and contract negotiations will begin. Next updates will be given at the board’s Sept. 9 meeting, including a start date for Maleyko.

The portion of the state’s third and fourth graders scoring proficient in the state’s standardized reading exam slid slightly compared to the year prior, data released by the Department of Education on Wednesday showed.

The 2024-25 results of the Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress, or M-STEP, showed that only 38.9% of third graders scored at advanced or proficient levels on reading tests, with 24.6% percent scoring in the “partially proficient” group. That’s a slight decrease from the previous school year.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have spent the last year decrying lackluster scores on the M-STEP and its national counterpart, the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Republicans blame Democrats’ changes to policies like third grade retention and Democrats blame decades of underfunding of education under Republican legislatures.

This year’s scores are already becoming a rallying cry for lawmakers and education groups hoping to see policy changes in Michigan schools, each expressing varying levels of concern.

The math and English language arts M-STEP is taken by students in grades 3-7 annually, per state and federal law. Students in grades 5, 8, and 11 take the test in science and social studies. Materials provided by MDE to educators to help understand the 2025 test results describe their purpose as measuring “curricular alignment to Michigan’s Academic Standards, (informing) educational program evaluation and to inform curricular and continuous improvement decisions at the school and/or district level.”

“M-STEP individual student data provides a snapshot of what a student knows and is able to do based on Michigan’s Academic Standards,” the department’s score guide for educators says. “Student level M-STEP data should be used cautiously and in combination with local formative, benchmark, and summative assessment data to develop a complete picture of what the student knows and is able to do.”

Put plainly, the M-STEP shouldn’t be taken as a complete portrayal of students’ reading and math skills, MDE says. The test’s proficiency standard is higher than those used to determine whether a student reads at grade level, so students who score partially proficient on the M-STEP may still be fluent readers at grade level.

What the data does concretely show is that students are still struggling with COVID-19 brain drain: students in districts that learned remotely for seven or more months during the 2020-21 school year continue to exhibit lower average proficiency rates in math and ELA than students in districts that learned in person that year. Those disparities become harsher when students are filtered by economic advantage.

In grade levels and subject areas where students are scoring at higher proficiency levels, they still largely haven’t recovered to the rates of the 2019-2020 school year, the last M-STEP pre-pandemic.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael Rice said this year’s scores, while containing several bright spots, feature the same worrisome metrics from last year.

“It is noteworthy that in many grades, Michigan students posted the highest math and ELA proficiency rates in the last three school years,” Rice said in a statement. “At the same time, however, ELA scores in grades 3 and 4 remain a concern. Once fully implemented, historic 2024 laws to address early literacy and dyslexia will help substantially, but we must do more to improve literacy skills of young readers.”

As the state remains in limbo waiting for the new literacy and dyslexia laws to be fully implemented, a process that likely won’t show its effect on test scores for two or three school years, Rice said there are other actions policymakers can take to continue addressing reading struggles in elementary school.

“The Michigan Legislature needs to provide our children with lower class sizes in high-poverty K-3 classrooms, more in-person instructional time, funding for more research-based, early literacy materials that help drive improved student achievement, and mandatory training in Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) on the science of reading for teachers and administrators in grades K-5 and all literacy coaches,” he continued. “These research-based measures would also help students improve their reading skills.”

Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, had a different take on the scores.

“This is further proof of the complete and utter failure of Democrats to put Michigan students first,” Nesbitt said in a statement. “The policies of Gov. Whitmer and Lansing Democrats continue to gut standards and accountability, and these scores are a direct reflection of that. Providing our children with a quality education is one of the most important things we do so they can make it in Michigan. We must change course quickly before an entire generation gets left behind.”

Republicans have called for the return of Michigan’s repealed “Read by Grade 3” law that recommended holding back students who did not meet reading benchmarks by the end of third grade, as well as measures like letter grades for schools and school districts based on test scores. Democrats have said those changes would not have the effect Republicans hope and would harm students and educators.

Jeff Donofrio, president and chief executive officer of Business Leaders for Michigan, said Michigan needs leaders dedicated to doing better by our kids.

“Here’s what today’s test results mean: if you walk into a third-grade classroom in Michigan, six out of 10 children in that room cannot read proficiently. It highlights how dramatically Michigan’s kids, teachers, and parents are being let down by our state’s education system. Just throwing more money at the problem or pointing fingers won’t solve anything. We need leaders committed to setting clear goals, implementing proven models, and bringing together those who aren’t satisfied with the status quo to do better by our kids.”

For education groups, the discourse around test scores is the latest reminder that the Legislature still hasn’t passed a school aid budget.

“Today’s M-STEP results should be a wakeup call to policymakers that they should urgently prioritize support for our students and schools,” EdTrust-Midwest Senior Director of Communications Jennifer Mrozowski said in a Wednesday statement. “That support should start with passing a School Aid budget that invests more in Michigan’s students, particularly those with the greatest needs.”

Mrozowski said it’s time for lawmakers to build in additional transparency measures to the budget as well, ensuring Michiganders can better understand what actions the state is taking to address education issues.

“New investments should be accompanied by transparent fiscal accountability systems to make sure school funds are spent on the students for whom the dollars are intended,” she continued. “Michigan lacks such a system today, which leaves parents and stakeholders in the dark about whether dollars are being spent on research-backed strategies to raise student outcomes.”

Legislation that would change the state’s hazardous waste management laws and increase tipping fees passed the Senate on Tuesday, a move supporters said would protect Southeast Michigan residents from harmful substances.

Collectively, the bills (SB 246  and SB 247) would raise the per-ton tipping fee for hazardous waste disposal and ban the disposal of technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material, or TENORM, above certain thresholds.

Expansions of hazardous waste facilities and new facilities would be postponed for five years. This would allow for a state hazardous waste plan to be developed, which would include restrictions on how much waste can be dumped in the state as well as stricter siting requirements.

Members voted to pass both bills 19-15 along party lines.

Prior to the vote, bill sponsor Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, outlined how communities in his district have had to address local facilities accepting waste first from the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, derailment for underground injection, and later, an attempt to accept Manhattan Project waste.

Local officials have sought to halt the acceptance of radioactive soil and concrete from nuclear test sites at the Wayne Disposal landfill in Van Buren Township as part of a planned hazardous waste facility expansion.

“This legislation today makes sure that Michigan can stand on its own two feet and say with one voice: ‘we will not be your dumping ground,’” Camilleri said. “We have a choice: do we allow Michigan to be a dumping ground for the nation’s toxic waste, or do we rise to the responsibility that we have to protect our people, our land and our water?”

Sen. Joseph Bellino, R-Monroe, opposed the bills, calling it a 233% tax hike.

“Despite the state budget exploding year over year over year under Democratic control, you’re coming back to Michigan taxpayer, asking for more and more,” Bellino said.

Bellino said the proposed fee increase stinks, comparing it to the smell of his grandson’s diapers in a garbage can at his house.

Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, said the tipping fee for Michigan is barely 30 cents per ton, whereas neighboring states have fees of several dollars per ton.

“We’re talking about a trash fee that is infinitesimally tiny and has a tiny, tiny impact on people’s budgets, but has a big impact on making Michigan a magnet for trash from all over the region,” Irwin said.

Irwin said proposals to raise the tipping fee go back to the 2000s and have failed time and again.

“Let’s stop trying to play political games and just do the right thing for once,” Irwin said.

Camilleri later told reporters that Wayne County residents do not want to be a major dumping ground for toxic materials.

“This would actually help us create a pathway to maybe not necessarily shut these places down … but let’s rein them in, regulate them and create a better environmental situation,” Camilleri said.

Prior to passage, an S-2 floor substitute was adopted that included multiple changes.

Haulers of hazardous waste that contract with communities would have to include in each invoice the amount of landfill tipping fee surcharges paid for solid waste.

Landfill owners and operators would have to submit yearly reports to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy on total solid waste received as well as landfill tipping fee surcharges paid by municipality and county.

Funds collected from the tipping fee would also be allocated in a new way.

The first $9 million out of $12 million total would be placed in the Solid Waste Management Fund.

The rest would be split three ways, with 45% going to a Cleanup and Redevelopment Fund, 40% to a Municipal Grant Fund, and 15% to a Host Communities Grant Fund.

For the host communities fund, it is intended to prevent residents from bearing the brunt of the cost of landfills. Seventy-five percent of revenue that would go into the fund would go to the community in which the landfill is located. The rest would be equally split between communities within a two-mile radius of the landfill.

In the face of a closing public comment period on state permits for the Line 5 tunnel project, both supporters and opponents of the pipeline plan are urging the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to act either by granting or blocking a permit for the beginning of construction.

Friday is the deadline for public comment on the permits, which apply to Part 303, Wetlands Protection, and Part 325, Great Lakes Submerged Lands, of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act.

Great Lakes Michigan Jobs coalition members focused on what they say are the pros of the project: union jobs and a safer way to transport the materials.

Mike Smith, executive director of the Upper Peninsula Construction Council, said with the survey process starting five years ago with 40,000 hours of review, this makes the tunnel “one of the most comprehensive project reviews in Michigan’s history.”

“Line 5 supports up to 23 million gallons of fuel each day, energy that powers Michigan’s manufacturing sector, supports regional supply chains, and keeps families and businesses moving residents across both peninsulas rely on Line 5 for affordable home heating fuel and much more,” Mary Myers, director of economic development services at Lake Superior Community Partnership, said. “Job makers and workers rely on Line 5 for the fuel they need to make the products residents depend on to provide good paying jobs and to power their work sites. EGLE has heard from thousands of Michiganders who understand the importance of modernizing this infrastructure, and we’re confident those voices will be reflected in the final decision.”

Mike Witkowski, director of environmental and regulatory policy for the Michigan Manufacturers Association, said experts have concluded that the risk of a spill is “virtually zero” and highlighted that all ends of the political spectrum support the constructions.

In questions about whether there could be a kind of disaster or explosion with the pipeline, a concern of the opposition, Witkowski said the project has been vetted to be legally and environmentally compliant.

“I think everyone’s been more than patient and accommodating to people on all sides here, but I think our facts are scientifically sound and really well vetted,” Witkowski said.

There will be temporary and isolated construction disruptions, Witkowski said, but that under the proposed plan, all of that should be “mitigated.”

Oil and Water Don’t Mix, a coalition of organizations focused on blocking the tunnel due to their concerns about oil spills and ruptures of the pipeline in the Great Lakes, delivered letters of opposition to the project to both Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and EGLE’s offices.

Sean McBrearty, campaign coordinator for Oil and Water Don’t Mix, said since Whitmer ran for governor in 2018, he and other activists have been asking her to weigh in on if Enbridge should build a tunnel underneath 20% of the world’s freshwater surface during “an era of increasing climate change.”

McBrearty said EGLE has an easy path to deny these permits under the Great Lakes Submerged Lands Act, which he said would require EGLE to consider the environmental impacts of building the tunnel for the Great Lakes.

EGLE does not deny permits based on content or what they could disagree with, only denying permits based on the law. McBrearty said this act requires that approved projects must only have minimal impacts to the environment, and from the draft of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Environmental Impact Statement on the project, there would be both local and environmental impacts.

This gives EGLE “all the teeth to deny the permits,” McBrearty said.

McBrearty said he met with EGLE Director Phil Roos Tuesday morning to express the group’s concerns, saying he hopes they follow through with their duty to protect the Great Lakes.

McBrearty also argued that the technology being used in this pressurized tunnel is “untested,” and the rock quality of the Great Lakes Basin may not be able to handle the construction. He worried about known methane pockets that could burst during drilling and cause flooding or injury of workers.

“It is up to our state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy to hold Enbridge accountable, to actually look at the facts about whether or not it should be permissible to drill an unprecedented oil tunnel under the Great Lakes, and to stand up for the people of Michigan by saying no,” McBrearty said.

Other impacts McBrearty brought up included whitefish dying from bentonite slurry, or a mixture of clay and water known to help with construction support and lights from construction interfering with a local dark sky park.

Scott Dean, spokesperson for EGLE, said the department “is committed to taking regulatory action within its statutory authority that protects public health and the environment.”

“During our review of this proposed project, our top priority has been protecting the Straits of Mackinac and the surrounding wetlands from adverse environmental impacts,” Dean said in a statement.