By Elena Durnbaugh
Gongwer News Service
Lawmakers were largely quiet on Wednesday in response to the revelation that it appears the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Office were influential in the $20 million grant awarded to Global Link and former MEDC board member Fay Beydoun, though those who did comment pointed to the importance of oversight in Lansing.
House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay) said his committee would continue asking questions, but he had no interest in getting in the way.
“We’re kind of in a weird spot because we’re going to obviously continue to pay attention and look at it, but I think we’re in a harder spot now believing we’ll get anybody to come testify,” DeBoyer said Wednesday, referring to the Department of Attorney General’s criminal investigation into Beydoun. “We will be cautious. We don’t have an interest in sabotaging a case or doing something that could compromise that.”
Attorney General investigators have said Beydoun is a suspect in the case and that state actors are third party witnesses with important information.
Last month, the House Oversight Committee requested documents and records from the MEDC related to the grant.
DeBoyer said his understanding was that the documents the committee requested were caught up in the attorney general’s raid of the MEDC last month, but he was told the organization still intends to send over the documents.
“The next step here is to get those documents,” DeBoyer said. “We are going to go through whatever the MEDC provides us and make our decisions based on that.”
On the Senate side, Senate Oversight Committee Chair Sen. Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) said he’d be watching the attorney general’s investigation closely.
“A number of serious concerns about this grant have been brought to light, and I am glad that it was canceled,” he said in a statement. As the chair of the Senate’s Oversight Committee, the integrity of the state’s business is of utmost importance to me, and I will be watching the attorney general’s investigation closely.”
Singh, who provided comment through Rosie Jones, press secretary for Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids), declined to comment on whether the Senate Oversight Committee planned to take up the issue.
Singh’s wife, Kerry Ebersole Singh, was the chief talent solutions and engagement officer for the MEDC. She left the organization in February.
Brinks herself declined to comment.
Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan), minority vice chair of the Oversight committee, when asked whether he thought committee should take up discussion of the grant, said he has “a history of supporting lots of oversight and transparency,” for both parties and that it was “a legislative duty that should be done.”
He said he was not overly concerned about Whitmer’s connection with Beydoun given that a requirement of serving in elected office is having connections to people.
“It’s difficult to know a lot of people without a few of them doing things they shouldn’t do,” McBroom said. “So, you just really can’t say one way or the other whether just knowing that person is a sign of some corruption or not. It could just as easily be as it might not be.”
He also did not blame Senate Democrats for not calling for an investigation into the grant, saying it’s harder in the majority because “of the pressures that come down.”
He said the controversy is a clear sign of why it is important to conduct regular investigations, regardless of who is in charge, and without prejudice on which party the investigation is on.
Rep. Greg VanWoerkom (R-Norton Shores) was part of developing a competitive grant program as part of the 2022 budget cycle. The goal was to create something for Michigan-based businesses that would help business incubators throughout the state that needed financial support.
The program was negotiated through the House, and there was an agreement with former Sen. Ken Horn, who was the chair of the Senate Economic and Small Business Development Committee, VanWoerkom said.
“We were going to put in the parameters that we wanted to see done, and we thought we did a pretty good job with it,” he said. “When it got bumped up further to leadership, that’s when the changes happened.”
VanWoerkom said that he didn’t know about the changes to the grant that made it a sole-source payment until after it was passed, and he didn’t make the connection between the changes to the grant and Global Link until he saw the reporting by The Detroit News and learned how the money was being spent.
DeBoyer said that he was not opposed to broadening the House’s request for information surrounding the grant.
“On a broad scale, that’s always a possibility, but I think just out of absolute respect for the law enforcement side of this…the last thing I would want to do as chair of Oversight is to compromise that,” he said.
DeBoyer went on to say that the situation was a cause for concern.
“The state has been free and loose with taxpayers’ money for way too long, and I hope that this opens everybody’s eyes,” he said.
He pointed to the House’s reforms on legislative earmarks that require lawmakers to submit their proposals in advance with their name on them.
“That’s a good thing for the transparency of the money that is doled out in Lansing,” he said.
Rep. Dylan Wegela (D-Garden City), minority vice chair of the House Oversight Corporate Subsides and State Investments Subcommittee, said that the matter was ripe for legislative oversight.
“I absolutely think we should look into this,” he said Wednesday.
Several other lawmakers did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak), the vice chair of the Senate Oversight Committee, did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. She’s also chair of the Senate Economic and Community Development Committee and has, at times, clashed with the MEDC.
Sen. Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee , which attempted to claw back the grant from Beydoun last term, was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.
Rep. Steve Carra (R-Three Rivers), who chairs the House Oversight Corporate Subsidies and State Investments Subcommittee , was also unavailable for comment on Wednesday, but he directed Gongwer News Service to comments he made to a different outlet last week about the importance of learning more about the MEDC’s involvement in the Beydoun grant.
Rep. Greg VanWoerkom (R-Norton Shores) was part of developing a competitive grant program as part of the 2022 budget cycle, which ultimately became the sole-source grant that Beydoun received.
He said it was frustrating to learn what the grant became and that it was damaging the current conversations around economic development in Michigan.
“It’s frustrating, because I’m supportive of the entrepreneur ecosystem and thought this was going to be a good way to help and support,” VanWoerkom said. “Now, because this has happened, you don’t see those conversations happening right now.”
DeBoyer said his hope was that the situation around the legislative grant given to Beydoun would provide the political willpower to make reforms.
“I hope this makes people realize how this should be handled,” he said. “I want to look at these facts, and I think this is the reason that oversight is needed so much in Lansing, because Oversight’s job is to shine the spotlight on things that are going on. Even though it may not be illegal necessarily, it may certainly be unethical or outside the bounds of what we would expect of our government.”
Gongwer News Service
Lawmakers were largely quiet on Wednesday in response to the revelation that it appears the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Office were influential in the $20 million grant awarded to Global Link and former MEDC board member Fay Beydoun, though those who did comment pointed to the importance of oversight in Lansing.
House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay) said his committee would continue asking questions, but he had no interest in getting in the way.
“We’re kind of in a weird spot because we’re going to obviously continue to pay attention and look at it, but I think we’re in a harder spot now believing we’ll get anybody to come testify,” DeBoyer said Wednesday, referring to the Department of Attorney General’s criminal investigation into Beydoun. “We will be cautious. We don’t have an interest in sabotaging a case or doing something that could compromise that.”
Attorney General investigators have said Beydoun is a suspect in the case and that state actors are third party witnesses with important information.
Last month, the House Oversight Committee requested documents and records from the MEDC related to the grant.
DeBoyer said his understanding was that the documents the committee requested were caught up in the attorney general’s raid of the MEDC last month, but he was told the organization still intends to send over the documents.
“The next step here is to get those documents,” DeBoyer said. “We are going to go through whatever the MEDC provides us and make our decisions based on that.”
On the Senate side, Senate Oversight Committee Chair Sen. Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) said he’d be watching the attorney general’s investigation closely.
“A number of serious concerns about this grant have been brought to light, and I am glad that it was canceled,” he said in a statement. As the chair of the Senate’s Oversight Committee, the integrity of the state’s business is of utmost importance to me, and I will be watching the attorney general’s investigation closely.”
Singh, who provided comment through Rosie Jones, press secretary for Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids), declined to comment on whether the Senate Oversight Committee planned to take up the issue.
Singh’s wife, Kerry Ebersole Singh, was the chief talent solutions and engagement officer for the MEDC. She left the organization in February.
Brinks herself declined to comment.
Sen. Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan), minority vice chair of the Oversight committee, when asked whether he thought committee should take up discussion of the grant, said he has “a history of supporting lots of oversight and transparency,” for both parties and that it was “a legislative duty that should be done.”
He said he was not overly concerned about Whitmer’s connection with Beydoun given that a requirement of serving in elected office is having connections to people.
“It’s difficult to know a lot of people without a few of them doing things they shouldn’t do,” McBroom said. “So, you just really can’t say one way or the other whether just knowing that person is a sign of some corruption or not. It could just as easily be as it might not be.”
He also did not blame Senate Democrats for not calling for an investigation into the grant, saying it’s harder in the majority because “of the pressures that come down.”
He said the controversy is a clear sign of why it is important to conduct regular investigations, regardless of who is in charge, and without prejudice on which party the investigation is on.
Rep. Greg VanWoerkom (R-Norton Shores) was part of developing a competitive grant program as part of the 2022 budget cycle. The goal was to create something for Michigan-based businesses that would help business incubators throughout the state that needed financial support.
The program was negotiated through the House, and there was an agreement with former Sen. Ken Horn, who was the chair of the Senate Economic and Small Business Development Committee, VanWoerkom said.
“We were going to put in the parameters that we wanted to see done, and we thought we did a pretty good job with it,” he said. “When it got bumped up further to leadership, that’s when the changes happened.”
VanWoerkom said that he didn’t know about the changes to the grant that made it a sole-source payment until after it was passed, and he didn’t make the connection between the changes to the grant and Global Link until he saw the reporting by The Detroit News and learned how the money was being spent.
DeBoyer said that he was not opposed to broadening the House’s request for information surrounding the grant.
“On a broad scale, that’s always a possibility, but I think just out of absolute respect for the law enforcement side of this…the last thing I would want to do as chair of Oversight is to compromise that,” he said.
DeBoyer went on to say that the situation was a cause for concern.
“The state has been free and loose with taxpayers’ money for way too long, and I hope that this opens everybody’s eyes,” he said.
He pointed to the House’s reforms on legislative earmarks that require lawmakers to submit their proposals in advance with their name on them.
“That’s a good thing for the transparency of the money that is doled out in Lansing,” he said.
Rep. Dylan Wegela (D-Garden City), minority vice chair of the House Oversight Corporate Subsides and State Investments Subcommittee, said that the matter was ripe for legislative oversight.
“I absolutely think we should look into this,” he said Wednesday.
Several other lawmakers did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak), the vice chair of the Senate Oversight Committee, did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. She’s also chair of the Senate Economic and Community Development Committee and has, at times, clashed with the MEDC.
Sen. Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee , which attempted to claw back the grant from Beydoun last term, was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.
Rep. Steve Carra (R-Three Rivers), who chairs the House Oversight Corporate Subsidies and State Investments Subcommittee , was also unavailable for comment on Wednesday, but he directed Gongwer News Service to comments he made to a different outlet last week about the importance of learning more about the MEDC’s involvement in the Beydoun grant.
Rep. Greg VanWoerkom (R-Norton Shores) was part of developing a competitive grant program as part of the 2022 budget cycle, which ultimately became the sole-source grant that Beydoun received.
He said it was frustrating to learn what the grant became and that it was damaging the current conversations around economic development in Michigan.
“It’s frustrating, because I’m supportive of the entrepreneur ecosystem and thought this was going to be a good way to help and support,” VanWoerkom said. “Now, because this has happened, you don’t see those conversations happening right now.”
DeBoyer said his hope was that the situation around the legislative grant given to Beydoun would provide the political willpower to make reforms.
“I hope this makes people realize how this should be handled,” he said. “I want to look at these facts, and I think this is the reason that oversight is needed so much in Lansing, because Oversight’s job is to shine the spotlight on things that are going on. Even though it may not be illegal necessarily, it may certainly be unethical or outside the bounds of what we would expect of our government.”
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