Gov. Gretchen Whitmer owes the taxpayers of Michigan a better explanation for how an influential Democratic Party official ended up with a $20 million grant she demonstrated no particular qualifications for receiving.

All we’ve heard so far from the governor is “ask Wentworth.” That’s a reference to former Republican House Speaker Jason Wentworth, who allegedly sponsored and directed the money to Fey Beydoun, a former Michigan Democratic Party vice chair and Whitmer appointee to the executive committee of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).

Since the News revealed the questionable spending, Beydoun has offered back a $10,000 reimbursement to cover a $4,500 coffee pot and first-class plane ticket she purchased. But taxpayers haven’t received is a plausible explanation of how and why Beydoun got the grant in the first place. New reporting this week links the governor more closely to the grant.

Both the governor and the MEDC should provide a greater explanation of the step-by-step unconventional process that ended with Beydoun receiving $20 million for a company she hadn’t yet officially formed.

The News reported this week that Beydoun pitched Whitmer on the idea of funding a business incubator at a Christmas party in 2020. At the governor’s suggestion, Beydoun met with the MEDC several times over the summer of 2021. The MEDC turned down the nonprofit business accelerator. But in 2022 Beydoun finally secured the grant.

Why was it given a second look?

What changed about the proposal? Wentworth denies sponsoring the expenditure, although it bears his name. How did that happen? He needs to answer that question.

Attorney General Dana Nessel has launched an investigation. But it shouldn’t take a probe to get these answers from the governor or the MEDC.

The importance of getting better answers goes beyond this $20 million. The MEDC is now set to receive $500 million annually to encourage business development. Taxpayers must be certain the Beydoun grant isn’t how the group typically does business.

In its entire 25-year history the development corporation has never clawed back a legislative grant or withheld additional funding due to improper use. That suggests either a tremendous track record for sound investing, or a serious a lack of follow-up scrutiny of how they money it hands out is being spent.

Before the group sets out on spending a half-billion a year, it would be useful to know which is true.

The Democratic-led Michigan Legislature last year said it would increase transparency around these types of grants. But instead, it decreased the frequency with which the MEDC is required to report on the grant spending to the Legislature from four times a year to once a year.

The process is clearly broken.

Things should be debated in committee, on the floor, if they happen at all, not added in a backroom secret deal involving the governor and legislative leadership. That’s what leads to the ambiguity and the difficulty holding anyone accountable.

On the surface, it appears a well-connected Democrat was able to walk away with $20 million from the state without establishing whether there was any need for her services.

If that’s not the case, it would be in the best interest of Whitmer and the MEDC to explain why things aren’t as they appear.

— Detroit News