On a 30-6 vote Thursday, the Senate passed a $641 million fiscal year 2011 budget supplemental. The six “no” votes came from Republican Senators Darwin Booher (R-Evart), Jim Marleau (R-Lake Orion), Arlan Meekof (R-West Olive), Phil Pavlov (R-St. Clair), Dave Robertson (R-Grand Blanc) and Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Lawton).
The most significant portion of the measure is a nearly $360 million federal high speed rail provision largely funded by the Federal Railroad Administration’s High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program and federal stimulus dollars.
Senate Bill 237, sponsored by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Senator Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw) increases funding for four departments while decreasing allotments for two. The Department of Human Services and Michigan State Police received the reductions while the Departments of Community Health, Military and Veterans Affairs, Transportation and Licensing and Regulatory Affairs realized the increases.
Just over $38 million was included to assist in paying the $106 million owed in interest on unemployment insurance loans from the federal government.