The Senate Higher Education Appropriations
Subcommittee voted 2-1 in favor of a proposed budget, Senate
Bill 193, that did not penalize any university for extending a contract
with its current workers before the Right-To-Work laws went into effect. The
$1.43 billion budget matches the dollar amount recommended by Governor Snyder
and will be moved on to the full Senate Appropriations Committee. The proposed
budget does scrap the $6.2 million tuition restraint incentive proposed by Mr.
Snyder and will receive funds from both the General Fund ($1.13 billion) and
the School Aid Fund ($200.6 million).
Conversely, House Republicans on the full
House Appropriations Committee strongly support the idea of penalizing
universities that entered into or extended a contract with workers prior to the
effective date of the Right-To-Work laws. Senate Subcommittee Chair Senator
Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Lawton) understands the intent of the House Republican’s
actions but believes that cutting funds to penalize schools would only result
in hurting the students at those schools. However, Representative Joe Haveman
(R-Holland) and other House Republicans would like to see the provisions remain
in the proposed budgets.
An identical amendment was offered in both
the Senate and House panels to require any School Aid Funds in the Higher
Education budget to be replaced with General Funds. The rationale is that
funding intended for K-12 schools, School Aid Funds, should not be used on
Higher Education. However, both identical amendments were rejected in the House
and Senate.