Budget Update

In an effort to give you an update on where the various state department budgets are in the approval process, I offer the following update.

Thank you for reading and for allowing me to serve you in the Michigan Senate. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my office.

SB 237- Agriculture – Senate Approved on September 25
The Agriculture budget bill, Senate Bill 237 was discharged from conference committee and was passed by the State Senate. I voted for this bill on Friday, which contained a $1.5 million cut from last year, but there are no cuts so severe that they would damage our agriculture industry here in Michigan.

SB 243- Department of Energy Labor & Economic Growth – Voted Against
The Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth budget bill, Senate Bill 243 has passed the State Senate as of Friday, September 25, 2009. It currently is awaiting approval in the State House. I voted against this budget bill when it came before the Senate for several reasons. There was a massive reduction to the No Worker Left Behind program ($4.5million) from last year, cuts that would drastically undermine the efforts to re-train Michigan’s workforce for 21st century jobs. There was also a $4.2 million reduction in the Nursing Corp, another devastating cut to this program.

SB 249- Judiciary – Voted Against
The Judiciary budget bill, Senate Bill 249, is currently pending adoption by the State House. When this bill came before the State Senate, I voted against this budget bill. The bill that was put before the Senate reduced the funding for the public defenders program. This is a vital service to low-income families that cannot afford lawyers should they have any issues with the legal system. These families deserve to have adequate representation regardless of financial means.

SB 250- Military and Veterans Affairs – Voted Against
The Military and Veterans Affairs budget bill, Senate Bill 250, passed the State Senate as of Friday, September 25, 2009. It currently is awaiting adoption in the State House. I voted against this budget bill when it came before the Senate for several reasons. Among my reasons for voting no included a $1 million cut across the board and after six months a reorganization that would eliminate funding to a number of veteran service organizations.

All remaining budgets are either in conference committee or still in the Michigan House.

T-5 DAYS UNTIL BUDGET DEADLINE

Today, I was deeply frustrated by the Senate Republican leadership’s decision to adjourn session after only a few hours of work while a government shutdown looms only five days away. I joined many of my colleagues in objecting to this decision; we wish to stay and work to get this done. However, the majority caucus seems more concerned about making it to the biennial Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference than doing the work they were sent to Lansing to do.

This weekend, the leadership of the Senate will be enjoying luxurious hotel rooms and schmoozing with corporate lobbyists while parents across Michigan are left questioning how they will pay for their child’s college tuition without the promise grant, school districts are left to wonder how they will best educate students without the funding to pay for teachers, and police chiefs are left to ponder how best to keep their communities safe with even less officers on the streets. These are questions that deserve answers now, not next week after the party on Mackinac has ended.

The Michigan Constitution explicitly states the deadline for each budget year is September 30th. Without a budget agreement in place, the state can not spend money starting October 1st and state government will shut down. This deadline is not new, we have known about it all year. Despite this, before leaving town today, Senate Republicans asked for an extension today. Continuation budgets are effectively a gimmick which allows the legislature a loop hole to avoid the September 30th deadline for a government shut down. Typically, a continuation budget extends the current budget for an additional month at current spending levels. Instead of continuing the budget at current levels, the budget passed today imposed stiff cuts set out by the Senate Majority Leader. This tactic should only be used in an emergency to avoid a shut down, not as a ploy to slip in a partisan budget and allow Republican members to leave town in time to enjoy a party on Mackinac.

On a party line vote, Republicans passed a budget through the back door which slashes funding to our school, breaks our promises to college students, and reduces the number of police officers and firefighters in our communities. I voted against the continuation budget because I believe it seriously fails to meet the priorities and needs of Michigan citizens for the following reasons.

1. We have had all year to reach an agreement on this budget. Passing a continuation budget is a cop-out. This is not the time to kick the can further down the road. I believe the time to make tough decisions is now. We must make difficult cuts and find solutions to protect the essential services and priorities of Michiganders.
2. Public Safety – Providing appropriate funding to keep officers and firefighters on the job in our communities is consistently a top priority of mine when working on our state budget. The proposed 20% cut to funding for local governments will have a devastating affect on our police and fire departments and will negatively impact public safety in Michigan.
3. K-12 School Funding – Today’s continuation budget contains a cut which would reduce student funding by $240 per student for next school year. Having already begun their school year, these cuts will put our schools in a dire financial situation and most certainly will reduce their ability to educate their students and our children.
4. Promise Scholarship – Over 96,000 Michigan students have earned the opportunity to receive assistance in their pursuit of higher education. Our state told students that if they excelled in school and performed well on state testing they would receive a $4,000 scholarship to be used at a Michigan university or college. Having already started their school year, students have now been notified that the state is breaking their promise, and the scholarship they have earned has been taken from them. Breaking this promise will leave students and families struggling to find a way to pay for the expenses of an education and will force many students out. This is not the way forward for Michigan. We need more college educated workers, not less. To view my statement on the Senate floor in defense of the promise scholarship click here.
5. Retraining Michigan Workers – No Worker Left Behind has been a very successful program. It is important that our state helps our workers retrain and acquire the skills needed for in-demand fields and the jobs of tomorrow. At a time when the demand for training opportunities out paces our ability to provide training we should not make deep cuts to the program. These cuts will result in longer lines for training and unemployment as opposed to putting more Michiganders back to work.
6. I will not support an increase to the state income tax. I voted against the increase in 2007 and I would vote the same way if proposed this year. This is not the time to ask for more from the working families who are struggling already. However, it is time to take a close hard look at the tax loopholes and credits that no longer produce the desired effect which exist in our state. During better economic times, corporate lobbyists were very successful at working loopholes for their specific company or industry into the tax code, many of which have not provided sufficient benefits to the state as a whole. When the choice is between public safety and special interest tax loopholes, I think the answer is very clear.

You sent me to Lansing to make these difficult decisions. I will continue to fight for your best interests while I am here. I hope that this update has been informative and helped your understanding of where the budget currently stands and my position on it. I place a great value on your opinion and views. If you have any questions or concerns about the budget please do not hesitate to contact me or my office.