{"id":77082,"date":"2026-08-06T19:54:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T00:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/06\/exclusive-michigan-house-speaker-calls-for-answers-over-300m-taxpayer-funded-rx-kids-program\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T19:54:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T00:54:46","slug":"exclusive-michigan-house-speaker-calls-for-answers-over-300m-taxpayer-funded-rx-kids-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/06\/exclusive-michigan-house-speaker-calls-for-answers-over-300m-taxpayer-funded-rx-kids-program\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Michigan House speaker calls for answers over $300M taxpayer-funded Rx Kids program"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Republican leader of Michigan\u2019s House<\/a> says a state-funded maternal health initiative has become something far different than lawmakers were promised, accusing Democrats of using more than $300 million in taxpayer funding to advance a broader guaranteed-income agenda.<\/p>\n

Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall made the remarks in an interview with Fox News Digital as House Republicans<\/a> continue scrutinizing Rx Kids, a taxpayer-funded program that provides unrestricted cash payments to pregnant women and new mothers.<\/p>\n

Hall argued lawmakers believed they were funding a maternal and prenatal health initiative, not what he described as a broader experiment in guaranteed income.<\/p>\n

GUARANTEED INCOME PROGRAM TARGETS LOW-INCOME HOMES LED BY BLACK MOMS AS CASH HANDOUTS SURGE NATIONWIDE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“I think the Democrats kind of slipped this in here under the idea that it was for prenatal care,” Hall told Fox News Digital. “Lawmakers did not have the complete picture.”<\/p>\n

Rx Kids launched in Flint in 2024 and provides expectant mothers with a $1,500 lump-sum payment during pregnancy<\/a>, followed by $500 monthly payments after the child is born.<\/p>\n

According to materials provided to Fox News Digital by Hall\u2019s office, the program has expanded to communities across Michigan with more than $300 million in taxpayer funding.<\/p>\n

Rx Kids has promoted the initiative as a maternal and infant health program<\/a> designed to reduce financial stress for new families. According to podcast interviews and program materials, its leaders have also discussed expanding the model to communities across Michigan and beyond.<\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE: VIDEO SHOWS MICHIGAN LAWMAKER TOURING DAYCARE IN $1.1M TAXPAYER FUNDING PROBE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Hall argued the program lacks the eligibility requirements found in traditional public assistance programs.<\/p>\n

“We have a lot of social safety net programs in our country that are working very well,” Hall said. “They have eligibility checks. They look at citizenship. They look at income verification.<\/p>\n

“Rx Kids, by design, is given to anyone that has a child,” he continued. “They don\u2019t look for citizenship. They just pay out anyone that has a child.”<\/p>\n

Hall\u2019s office also provided Fox News Digital with video of legislative committee testimony in which program officials acknowledged payments had been made to individuals who were not legally present in the United States.<\/p>\n

CALIFORNIA \u2018BASIC INCOME\u2019 EXPERIMENT FAILS TO PROVIDE \u2018FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE,\u2019 STUDY FINDS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Hall argued taxpayer-funded cash assistance should include income and legal status requirements similar to those used by existing public assistance programs.<\/p>\n

“What we prefer are the traditional welfare programs like Medicaid,<\/a> the food stamp program and the WIC program,” Hall said. “They make sure you\u2019re here legally, they make sure you\u2019re not making a lot of money and then they give you the benefit. That\u2019s not what Rx Kids is.”<\/p>\n

Hall also criticized the program\u2019s unrestricted cash payments, noting recipients are not required to spend the money on diapers, formula, housing or other expenses related to pregnancy or caring for a newborn.<\/p>\n

“They give you this free cash and there are no strings attached by definition,” Hall said.<\/p>\n

MAYORS WANT TO KEEP HANDING OUT FREE CASH AFTER FEDERAL FUNDS DRIED UP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Hall said caseworkers had told him they had seen recipients use the money for alcohol, drugs and gambling. Fox News Digital has not independently verified those claims.<\/p>\n

The speaker also pointed to public comments from Rx Kids leaders that he said reinforced Republican concerns that the initiative is intended to become something larger than a maternal health program.<\/p>\n

Hall’s office also shared podcast interviews in which Rx Kids co-founder Luke Shaefer discussed the expanded Child Tax Credit and the role he believes Rx Kids can play following the expiration of those federal payments.<\/p>\n

In a separate interview, Dr. Mona Hanna, the leader of Rx Kids, discussed her vision of expanding the initiative into a government-scale public program.<\/p>\n

DEM SENATE HOPEFUL ABDUL EL-SAYED RECOUNTS SMASHING VODKA BOTTLE AFTER BEARD CRITICISM<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Hall said those remarks aligned with his assessment of Rx Kids.<\/p>\n

“This is a progressive left-wing experiment toward basically a universal income<\/a>,” Hall said. “They\u2019re trying to move the welfare state<\/a> down that lane.”<\/p>\n

Hall also questioned the program\u2019s advisory network.<\/p>\n

Hall’s office also shared archived versions of the Rx Kids website that listed Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed<\/a>, Michigan Secretary of State and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jocelyn Benson’s husband Ryan Friedrichs and Community Change official Dorian Warren as members of the program’s advisory circle.<\/p>\n

MICHIGAN\u2019S TOP ELECTION OFFICIAL WINS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR GOVERNOR, ADVANCES TO BATTLEGROUND RACE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The advisory circle page was removed from the organization\u2019s website days after lawmakers questioned program leaders during a June 2 Michigan House Oversight Committee hearing.<\/p>\n

The timing of the removal does not establish why the page was taken down.<\/p>\n

“Our secretary of state\u2019s husband is on the advisory board. Abdul El-Sayed is on the board,” Hall said. “It\u2019s like a who\u2019s who of radical left Democrats.”<\/p>\n

Hall\u2019s office also pointed to an Rx Kids white paper examining voter turnout<\/a> among recipients and the program\u2019s promotion of Vot-ER, a physician-backed voter registration organization powered by TurboVote.<\/p>\n

Materials provided by Hall\u2019s office also identified Hanna as an adviser to Vot-ER.<\/p>\n

Hall said those connections and the program\u2019s research into voting behavior deserved additional scrutiny.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re trying to understand why are you so interested in the voting pattern of the people that are receiving your no-strings-attached welfare,” Hall said. “We aren\u2019t getting good answers.”<\/p>\n

Hall said House Republicans did not include additional funding for Rx Kids in Michigan\u2019s newly signed budget, though the program still has access to previously appropriated funds.<\/p>\n

TRUMP ADMIN PAUSING OVER $1B IN MEDICAID PAYMENTS TO MINNESOTA, CALIFORNIA OVER FRAUD, COMPLIANCE CONCERNS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“The good news is that we cut off funding to this program in the new budget,” Hall said. “In the future, we\u2019re going to try to put guardrails around it so that it goes to the people that truly need it.”<\/p>\n

Rather than eliminating assistance for struggling families, Hall said he wants taxpayer dollars directed toward existing programs that assess financial need and place restrictions on how certain benefits can be spent.<\/p>\n

“I think people support those programs,” Hall said. “They have eligibility requirements to ensure that you\u2019re not taking advantage of the system.”<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital reached out to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer\u2019s office, Rx Kids and Michigan State University for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Republican leader of Michigan\u2019s House says a state-funded maternal health initiative has become something far different than lawmakers were promised, accusing Democrats of using more than $300 million in taxpayer funding to advance a broader guaranteed-income agenda. Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall made the remarks in an interview with Fox News Digital as House … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77082\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}