In an effort to cut down on waste, fraud and abuse, Michigan’s House Oversight Committee will be subdivided into six subcommittees to investigate audit findings and other concerns to ensure government is working on behalf of taxpayers.

Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall on Thursday appointed state Rep. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, to chair the House Oversight Committee and laid out various priorities for the committee.

“He is a very strong member of our caucus, somebody who takes it very seriously,” Hall said during a press conference livestreamed by The Midwesterner on X, noting he previously served as the Oversight Chair. “I know what it takes. It takes a tenacity and a commitment to digging into what these departments of government are doing and getting the truth.”

DeBoyer said, “Today is a good day for the citizens and taxpayers of the state of Michigan.” He expressed concerns over state audits with deficiencies that have not been addressed and other concerns over corruption and mismanagement of state agencies.

“We’re going to bring government back to the people and get it out of the hands of bureaucrats,” DeBoyer said.

The House Oversight Committee provides critical checks and balances within the Legislature. The committee handles issues involving state government, including reviewing audit reports released by the Auditor General and legislation addressing governance of the Legislature, state departments and agencies.

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“Why doesn’t anyone in government know before the press tells us?” Hall said, explaining why he granted a sweeping subpoena power to the House Oversight Committee.

“With our sweeping subpoena power, and a robust Oversight Committee, we will get to the bottom of cases where departments are breaking laws, ignoring laws, or spending tax dollars in contrary to the law,” Hall said.

Hall also announced six House Oversight subcommittees to investigate some of the state’s largest agencies and programs:

• Weaponization of State Government
• Child Welfare and the Department of Health and Human Services
• Corporate Subsidies and State Investments
• Public Health and Food Security
• Homeland Security and Foreign Influences
• State and Local Public Assistance Programs

DeBoyer noted that there were over 50 reportable findings across state departments in audits done by the Office of the Auditor General from 2022-24, but few committee hearings that would help ensure compliance and that problems were being corrected.

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“That’s an irresponsible action out of the administration and a controlling party in the House,” DeBoyer said. “But that’s going to change starting today.”

The Oversight Committee will have subpoena powers to require state officials and agencies to turn over documents relevant to investigations or to testify in a deposition or in front of the committee under oath.

Hall said he hopes state officials and departments cooperate and do it willingly, but they are prepared to force them to do it.

“We are hiring a number of lawyers and investigators, people with prosecution experience and people with investigative experience,” he said. “We are not messing around. We are going to get to the bottom of misspending of government funds and also departments that are blatantly breaking the law.”

Hall noted the state has 44 audits from last session with material or reportable conditions that the Democrats did not have any hearings on. Hall said when he was Oversight Chair the committee had hearings on every audit with a finding.

In particular, Hall said Child Protective Services is one of the worst state agencies with repeated findings that are not addressed.

“We had hearing after hearing after hearing on Child Protective Services and people said that was the worst audit they had ever seen,” Hall said.  “And we keep getting them and they keep showing that Child Protective Services is not doing very well.”

In one example, he said an audit found thousands of liquor bottles have disappeared and the Michigan Liquor Control Commission didn’t do anything about it.

“I mean where did they go?” Hall questioned. “It’s interesting. Well, we’re going to solve that mystery. We’re going to find out where they are.”

Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services, which is a “monstrosity,” is one of the biggest offenders when it comes to failed audits and reportable findings.

After an audit, department officials claim they have addressed the issue but it shows up again. Hall said they learned this after repeated audits on the Unemployment Insurance Agency.

“Every department comes in and says ‘We fixed it. It’s good thank you for the audit,’” Hall said. “Well, what we learned from the Unemployment Insurance Agency audit is that when you audit that stuff six months or a year later, the department is lying. They didn’t fix it the finding.”

Hall said it has to be “relentless” as officials are trying to get results for state agencies.

“It has to be relentless, over and over, as we try to get results for these state agencies,” Hall said. “A lot of times we find out about departments not following the law and not using tax dollars wisely from the press.”

Even Democrats are catching on, Hall said, noting Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who announced her run for governor on Wednesday, said they were going to have three committees look into the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Good, I am happy democrats are starting to follow our lead on this as we’re blazing this trail because objectively, it is a problem,” Hall said. “I mean how do you manage a department with many reportable and material findings and that many failed audits.”

Hall brought up the Department of Natural Resources, which is clear cutting forest lands to build solar panels, and the state’s questionable economic incentive deals.

In many cases, lawmakers have included guardrails for taxpayer incentives that include claw-back provisions, which the state blatantly disregards. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. gives away billions in taxpayer subsidies without making sure companies hold up their end of the deal.

Lawmakers found out from a Detroit News investigation that the state paid $600 million to General Motors and Ultium before the automaker had completed either of its electric vehicle manufacturing plants or created a tenth of the promised jobs.

“Every one of these economic development deals, to look into them and determine are they following the law, are the spending our tax dollars according to the law, or not,” Hall said. “And if they are not, we are going to expose it and we’re going to hold them accountable.”

Hall said a lot of times lawmakers find out about the state’s waste and fraud and inappropriate use of tax dollars from the media.

“We want to be the first ones to know,” Hall said. “Your elected officials should be the first ones to know when these departments in government, in the bureaucracy, are not following laws or they’re not spending tax dollars appropriately.”

These people are great politicians and sales people, but when people start investigating the facts and the data, it becomes clear they are not serving the people of Michigan well and they are not following laws, Hall said.

“We’ll be proven by the facts when we uncover all the fraud and all the mismanagement of the departments and misspending of the tax dollars,” Hall said.

Hall brought up various concerns, ranging from corporate subsidies that have no oversight to expanded welfare programs and public health initiatives after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We need to get value for tax dollars,” Hall said. “We need to rein in these bureaucracies and make sure the government works for the people again.”

The Oversight Committee will also look into the state’s work-from-home policy since COVID-19. Hall noted lawmakers could not even turn in forms related to the election because employees for the Bureau of Elections were not at the office.

“All of these government buildings are empty,” Hall said. “Why is it all of these workers are working from home? Would they better serve the people if they are in their offices?”

The Oversight Committee is going to investigate homeland security and foreign influence in state-supported projects. He raised concerns over the unexplained drones, and the Chinese buying up farmland and partnering with Michigan manufacturers and universities.

The Oversight Committee is launching a new website where people can report concerns and anonymous tips. It’s not going to be a witch hunt, but it will be a legitimate effort to hold government accountable and

“We are operating inefficiently and we are losing money to waste, fraud and abuse,” DeBoyer said. “We are going to use taxpayers’ dollars more efficiently… It’s like a candy store over here the amount of money that is spent. We had a $9 billion surplus a year and a half ago and it’s just gone. That’s just irresponsible government.”