“It has been announced that Michigan will pay $1.9 million in legal fees to the lawyers arguing against the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
“Over the past couple of budget cycles, I have offered amendments during the appropriations process to prevent the state from spending taxpayer dollars to defend the discriminatory and unconstitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Attorney General Bill Schuette should have dropped the case following Judge Bernard Friedman’s 2014 ruling. When you add the state’s other legal expenses to this settlement, the attorney general has cost the state more than $2.1 million defending discrimination. The taxpayers are owed more than an apology, they are owed an explanation for the waste of money in trying prevent marriage equality.”