Midwest
GOP committee sounds alarm on document it says 'confirms' fears about Biden agency's activities in key state
FIRST ON FOX: The House Committee on Small Business has released a “Memorandum of Understanding” between the Biden administration and the state of Michigan which it fears represents a potentially unconstitutional agreement that is aimed at registering voters in the key swing state with a political agenda in mind.
Biden’s Small Business Administration (SBA) announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in March with the Michigan Department of State to “promote civic engagement and voter registration in Michigan” that it called the “first-of-its-kind collaboration” that immediately raised questions from the committee.
The MOU, which has been uploaded to the Congressional Repository, outlines the coordination between Michigan and the Biden administration where the state will “provide the Agency access to training resources related to the online Michigan Voter Information Center (MVIC)” and “The Agency shall provide voter registration training to all personnel conducting activities under this MOA.
“This training shall include information on who is eligible to register to vote, the interactions during which Agency staff must make voter registration services available, instructions to Agency staff on how to refer individuals to register to vote online using MVIC, and an overview of additional information that is available to voters in MVIC,” the MOU continued.
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A Republican-led committee has released a document they say shows the Biden administration improperly working to register voters in Michigan. (Getty Images)
The MOU also discusses how the Michigan Department of State would “create a unique URL for the SBA to use to drive online visitors to register to vote,” and that the SBA’s Michigan field office would allow state government officials to facilitate in-person voter registration at the federal agency’s business outreach events.
The committee told Fox News Digital that they released the documentation in the interest of “transparency” and after seeing the MOU, the committee’s previous concerns that the program is “unconstitutional” and an improper use of taxpayer funds were not assuaged.
“Seeing the MOU with Michigan does nothing to ease our concerns about the SBA getting involved in federal elections,” Committee Chairman Roger Williams said.
“In fact, this agreement confirms SBA employees are preparing to undergo trainings on how to best register voters rather than spend their time working to help struggling small businesses,” the chairman continued. “I encourage all Americans to look at this agreement and decide if this is how they want their tax dollars spent. The SBA must end all these electioneering activities on behalf of President Biden and get back to their sole mission of supporting the needs of Main Street.”
The committee, who has referred to the Michigan agreement as the state essentially serving as a “campaign arm” for Biden’s re-election, also released maps that overlay former SBA events, census data, Michigan Department of State data and publicly reported information of Democrat-targeted voter blocs which they say suggests possible areas that voter registration efforts will target when the effort is officially rolled out.
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An investigation by the House Small Business Committee found that 22 out of 25 SBA outreach events from January to April have taken place in counties with the highest population of Democratic National Committee (DNC) target demographics.
Meanwhile, 11 of 15 Michigan counties that showed the largest voter registration increases over the last year have ranked highest in population of young voters and Black voters, according to the committee — two of the left’s most-sought voting blocs.
“SBA’s MOU with Michigan proves that the agency is more concerned with registering voters than performing its official duties,” Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, told Fox News Digital.
“This outrageous misuse and abuse of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars will not go unpunished under my watch. Chairman Williams and I will continue shining a light on the SBA and exposing Biden’s bad actors.”
The data for the maps was compiled after the committee says it became aware of a video recording of an SBA adviser discussing SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman traveling to battleground states and “indirectly campaigning for Biden,” according to the committee, and inviting Democratic members of Congress on the trips at a higher rate than Republicans.
“Today’s letter is a continuation of our Committee’s investigation into the SBA’s voter registration and electioneering efforts,” Williams said in a press release earlier this month. “The SBA has shown a serious lack of transparency regarding the travels of senior SBA officials, including Administrator Guzman. Main Street — and the American People — have a right to know what exactly is going on and how the SBA is spending their hard-earned tax dollars. I hope the SBA will be forthcoming with us and provide us with the requested documents as we continue our investigation into this matter.”
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The coordination between the SBA and Michigan was sparked by a 2021 executive order from President Biden directing federal agencies to promote “access to voting,” which raised concerns from some that the administration is using the government agency to register votes in a swing state that many believe will be one of the states the November election hinges upon.
The House committee earlier this month subpoenaed SBA Chief of Staff Arthur Plews and his special adviser, Tyler Robinson, after they are said to have been no-shows at scheduled transcribed interviews with the committee.
Plews was scheduled to testify before the committee on Thursday but recently retained personal counsel, and the committee says they are negotiating a new time for him to meet with the committee to provide information on the program.
Fox News Digital reached out to the SBA and the White House but did not receive a comment.
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind and Charles Creitz contributed to this report
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(TNS) — St. Charles County has extended the deadline for its senior property tax freeze after reporting a ‘bug’ had caused computer problems in the county.
The original deadline was June 30. Residents now have until July 6 to sign-up or renew.
County Collector Michelle McBride said the extension was necessary after a software ‘bug’ from a third-party vendor caused the online sign-up portal to crash 10 days ago. The website stayed offline until this past Wednesday.
“I just feel like it is the right thing to do, to give people more time to apply,” McBride told the Post-Dispatch.
She said no personal information was released as a result of the malfunction.
To receive the tax freeze, residents need to provide proof of property ownership, that the property is their primary residence and that they are at least 62 years old.
McBride said residents could still submit paper applications during the outage, but she knows many residents prefer to use the online portal.
The extension covers applications submitted online, through the mail and in-person, McBride said.
She said a relatively small number of people were likely impacted by the outage.
The county’s senior property tax freeze program, which was approved in March 2023, has 33,000 participants, including 1,500 first-time participants. More than 28,000 individuals had already submitted their renewal form or their application for the tax freeze prior to the outage.
Residents must reapply every year for the tax freeze program, though that could change: The County Council is considering removing the yearly renewal requirement.
McBride said she supports the proposed change.
“The main reason the renewal process was put in place, and rightfully so, was that it was a brand-new program,” McBride said. “We were going from ground zero, and we wanted to make sure there was minimal ability for fraud.”
The renewal process is no longer needed, McBride said.
Moreover, she said, it has created “unnecessary administrative burdens” for St. Charles County seniors.
Plus, she said, the county has new technology tools through the county assessor’s office that automatically notify the collector’s staff of property ownership changes. And the State’s Bureau of Vital Records, which issues death certificates, has agreed to alert the collector’s office when a death certificate is issued for a resident over the age of 62 in St. Charles County.
“With the resources and tools that we have, and the experience that we’ve had with this program, we feel it is time to eliminate this headache for the seniors,” McBride said.
Per the draft proposal, participants enrolled in the program would remain enrolled unless ownership of the property changes, the property no longer qualifies as their primary residence, or the person no longer meets eligibility requirements. A person could also be removed from the program if the county collector’s office requests updated documentation and does not receive it in a timely manner, McBride said.
“We will retain the right to audit the program, verifying that there isn’t fraud happening,” McBride said.
The Council is expected to vote July 13 on eliminating the renewal requirement, which would take effect in 2027.
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Along with marching in the parade, the high schools will tour the U.S. Capitol, visit Mount Vernon and other monuments and museums.
Around 80 Grand Island students are making the trip. Lee said the students cover their own costs, with fundraising largely run though the school’s booster program helping offset the expense.
Bishop Neumann’s 53 students benefited from community donations, along with a holiday greenery sale and fundraisers, which Kellett said helped cover airfare and other costs.
For both directors, the trip carries extra weight tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary.
“That’s a pretty big milestone,” Lee said. “And to be able to be a part of that is pretty neat.”
Kellett said the moment will stay with students long after the parade ends.
“These kids, they’ll be around for the 300th anniversary of the country, and they’ll be able to look back and tell their grandkids, ‘you know, I was there at 250 and was able to march in the National Independence Day Parade,’” Kellett said.
Both bands have spent the summer preparing. Grand Island started working on its music after its final spring concert in May, rehearsing its marching and music together on Tuesday evenings.
Bishop Neumann has rehearsed continuously over the summer and marched in two parades to prepare, a 150th anniversary celebration in Weston and the Papillion Days parade.
Kellett said the band’s last rehearsal in Wahoo drew residents who lined the streets holding signs and cheering the students on.
“The students have come in, and they’ve worked really hard,” Kellett said. “They have their music memorized and they’ve worked on their marching skills, and so all that effort into this they’re ready to go for the parade.”
The parade starts at 9:30 a.m. CT Saturday at Third Street and Constitution Avenue.
The president will deliver remarks at the Burning Hills Amphitheatre after touring the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, which is expected to open to the public on the nation’s semiquincentennial.
Trump arrived in Bismarck aboard the new Qatar-gifted Air Force One plane. From there, he traveled to Medora, in the western part of the state, for a private tour of the presidential library.
His speech is scheduled to start at 1:15 p.m. local time.
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