Mike Duggan, Matt Hall push for new Michigan fund to fight crime

• Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall urge action on Public Safety and Violence Prevention Fund proposal
• Fund would use a portion of sales tax revenue to boost local law enforcement efforts based on crime rates
• Hall says the fund is his ‘top priority’ when the House returns from spring break on April 15, but Senate support is unclear

DETROIT — The Michigan House is prepared to approve plans for a new Public Safety and Violence Prevention Fund that would boost local law enforcement efforts, officials said Monday.

But with the GOP-led House and Democratic-led Senate at odds over several other issues — and off to their second-slowest legislative start in two decades — the fate of the proposal remains uncertain.

“Republicans, Democrats and independents are coming together on this,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said Monday in a press conference with state House Speaker Matt Hall. “So, it’s time for Senate Democrats to get on board and listen to their local police and support funding for our police.”

The plan would devote 1.5% of annual state sales tax revenues to the New Public Safety and Violence Prevention Fund — likely more than $150 million a year — starting in September of 2026. That money would be distributed to communities based on their local crime rates.

If cities fail to decrease their crime levels, the dollars could be reduced and given to other communities under a bipartisan package sponsored by Rep. Alabas Farhat, D-Dearborn, and Rep. Mike Harris, R-Waterford Township.

Duggan, Hall, Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison and a handful of other state and community leaders met Monday at Detroit Police Department headquarters to discuss the need for those dollars — also known as the Public Safety and Violence Prevention fund.

Both Democrats and Republicans have said the fund will help reduce violent crime across Michigan by supplying state dollars to communities for public safety efforts, though the issue lies in how each of the parties would like to see that money allocated. 

Democrats attempted to pass similar legislation last term — the House and Senate approved different versions — but the package did not reach Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk for signature. 

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Senate Democrats have not said whether they will support the proposal again, and no members of the upper chamber joined Monday’s press conference. Some supporters are concerned the upper chamber could try to add police accountability measures that the House may object to. 

Despite the uncertainty, Farhat maintains that while “last year’s package was good … we’ve made it better.” 

Duggan, a Democrat running for governor as an independent, noted he was “optimistic” that if the House passed the legislation “we will get the Senate to vote it up or down on the merits.”

“This should not be a partisan issue,” Harris added, speaking with Bridge Michigan following the roundtable event. “We’re really trying to work on this. … If this is good policy, let’s get it across the finish line.”

Hall, R-Richland Township, told reporters last month that getting a Public Safety and Violence Prevention fund up and running is “going to be my top priority when we get back” from an ongoing legislative spring break. 

Michigan’s Senate is due back in Lansing this week, though they’ve already canceled Tuesday’s session. The House is due back early next week. 

“We want to make our communities safer,” Hall said during a March press conference, “and as part of it, we start by investing in local roads and infrastructure — something that our bipartisan roads plan does — but we can invest more in our local communities.”

The House aims to finalize the fund in April, Hall confirmed Monday, saying his caucus also hopes to approve regulatory, permitting and licensing reforms in the near future.