(Source: MIRS.news, Published 12/5/2024) Presumed future House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) announced Thursday evening that to preserve constituent relations across terms, baseline budget allotments for member offices will be $145,000 per year, regardless of majority or minority status. 

That figure is an increase from the current Legislature in which majority members had $139,000 per year and minority members had $136,000 per year. The last time the two parties had equal allotments was the 2001-02 term. 

In a press release, Hall said he’s seen how hard it is to “radically change staffing every two years and the impact slashed budgets have on constituent services.” 

Hall is aiming to challenge the idea that a representative’s ability to staff their office or serve their constituents is based on which party is in the majority. 

“That’s not right. I am going to break that cycle and move the House in a better direction. We have a lot of important work to do, and our decisions shouldn’t be based on majority or minority status, but by the needs of the people we serve," he said.