The
Legislature passed the Fiscal Year 2014 School Aid budget earlier this week and
sent it to the Governor for his signature. Additionally, the House passed the
general omnibus budget but the Senate adjourned for the week before taking final
action.
The school
aid budget (House Bill 4228) included:
- An average of 2.2 percent funding increase for higher education, as long as tuition increases are capped at 3.75 percent
- An average of 2 percent operations funding increase for community colleges
- 3.2 percent increase for the K-12 budget with an assurance that every school district would receive at least a $5 per-pupil funding increase
- Language prohibiting schools from spending money on Common Core (a set of nationwide education standards) without prior approval from the Legislature
- $50 million for film incentives
- 2.4 percent increase in the Michigan Department of Community Health budget
- Additional money for the Grand Rapids Veterans Home to improve psychiatric and behavioral care, hire more nurses, and to upgrade its drug inventory and control procedures
- Funding to keep three juvenile justice facilities open and to hire a data analyst to compile statewide data on juvenile justice
- 4.8 percent increase in revenue sharing for cities, villages, and townships
- $350 million for one-time road and bridge projects
- Boilerplate prohibiting state funds from being used for construction or planning for the new Detroit-Canada bridge and requiring a quarterly report be sent by the Michigan Department of Transportation on all construction planning or non-construction activities
- $75 million for the state’s Rainy Day Fund
- Provisions prohibiting state departments from writing rules more stringent than federal standards and requiring state officials to get quotes on contracts more than $5 million
House Bill
4328 did not include
funding to expand Medicaid. However,
the House Michigan
Competitiveness Committee continues to hold hearings on a proposal that would
extend Medicaid health insurance to individuals with income up to 133
percent of the poverty level.
During the
budget debates, Democrats criticized the budgets for not giving a higher
spending priority to education and for failing to include Medicaid reform provisions.