Governor Signs Fiscal Year 2014 Budget into Law

On Thursday afternoon, Gov. Snyder approved a nearly $49 billion Fiscal Year 2014 budget. For three consecutive years, the Michigan Legislature has passed a budget well before the Oct. 1 constitutional deadline.

During the signing ceremony, the Governor highlighted the fact that the budget increased funding for early childhood education, the Healthy Kids Dental program for low-income kids, municipal revenue sharing, and public safety initiatives, and invested in K-12 schools, community colleges and universities.

The budget did not contain funding to expand Medicaid for low-income adults; however, the full House passed legislation late Thursday evening that would extend coverage to individuals with income up to 133 percent of the poverty level. (See Related Article) While the budget contained an additional $350 million for one-time road and bridge projects, overall road funding fell way short of the $1.2 billion the Governor originally requested to fix the state’s infrastructure.

Other highlights of the budget included:

· 0.8% increase in total spending, well below the rate of inflation
· $449.7 million more in funding for K-12 education
· $65 million more for early childhood education
· $31.9 million more in funding for higher education and community colleges
· $13.2 million more in funding for veterans' programs
· $20 million set aside for individual tax relief
· $25.3 million more in funding for public safety initiatives
· $46.6 million more for revenue sharing to communities
· $75 million deposited into the state' rainy day fund
· $351 million more for Michigan's roads from existing revenue sources
· $11.6 million more for Healthy Kids Dental

The Governor vetoed funding for a pre-college engineering program and a railroad crossing pilot project designed to allow increased train speeds. Additionally, he considered the boilerplate language prohibiting state departments from writing rules more stringent than federal standards; requiring the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to indemnify an animal owner for a loss; providing rules on how thoroughbred racing purse money should be distributed; banning spending on sodium limits in groundwater discharges; and, preventing lapse of uniform securities act funds unenforceable.

posted by PAA Online , Friday, June 14, 2013 2:00 PM
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