House Republicans removed the language from
the proposed budget that would have docked state funding from Michigan
universities, K-12 schools, community colleges and local governments based on
not complying with the Right-To-Work legislation. State funding would have been
reduced if new contracts were agreed to or extended prior to March 28, the
effective date for Right-To-Work legislation. The decision was approved on a
voice vote and the House adopted two amendments which removed the penalty
language; one regarding the omnibus education budget (House Bill 4228)
and one regarding the omnibus agency budget (House Bill 4328).
Both the Senate Republicans as well as the
Snyder Administration have been asking the House Republicans to distance
themselves from the idea of imposing penalties. But Representative Al Pscholka
(R-Stevenson) believes that the Senate and the Administration do not see the
issue the same as the House Republicans. Mr. Pscholka was the individual who
led the charge on imposing a 15 percent cut in the university budget for
schools failing to generate at least 10 percent savings from new or extended
contracts. Representative Joe Haveman (R-Holland), who submitted the
amendments, as well as Representative Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) are both glad
to see the unnecessary language removed.
There were over a dozen Democratic amendments
rejected over the course of the debate on the House floor on HB
4228 and HB
4328. In addition to the aforementioned approved bills, there was an
amendment approved to create a Family Independence Program substance abuse
testing pilot. This substance abuse program will be included with House Bill 4118
and will be put into place in the budget if that bill moves forward.