State Rep. Cam Cavitt today denounced the rejection of a budget amendment to provide $600,000 for Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger (MSAH). The House Appropriation Subcommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development and Natural Resources rejected the funding in the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) budget that was proposed by Rep. Greg Alexander, R-Carsonville. The amendment was rejected on party lines by the Democrat committee majority.

“House Democrats just spit in the face of an organization just trying to reduce waste and feed the hungry,” said Cavitt, R-Cheboygan. “Committee Democrats found $4 million for a fourth-grade field trip program but couldn’t find 15 percent of that for a non-profit donating venison to foodbanks across Michigan.”

MSAH coordinates the efforts of Michigan hunters and licensed Michigan-based wild game processors to feed people in need. The organization is entirely volunteer-run and coordinates with the DNR. MSAH has donated 1.1 million pounds of processed venison and helped feed an estimated 4.6 million people.

In 2023, organizers said storage issues and low processor payments stressed the program. MSAH also faced increased DNR testing guidelines for chronic wasting disease and bovine tuberculosis in certain counties.

“Today underscored how nothing is safe from Democrat political partisanship,” Cavitt said. “MSAH needed this money to ensure their efforts could continue. I thought reducing waste, supporting small processors, and donating an important source of protein was the perfect non-partisan issue for everyone to get behind. Clearly, I couldn’t have been more wrong.”

MSAH is seeking a general fund investment of $264,000 to obtain refrigerated trailers that can store deer and processed venison, $300,000 for increased payments to processors to bring them to market rates to ensure participation and retention, and $30,000 to cover chronic wasting and tuberculosis testing, including shipping costs.

###