House Passes Its Version of the 2013-2014 Budget

The House of Representatives wrapped up its version of the 2013-14 fiscal year budget on Wednesday, narrowly passing both its omnibus budget bill and its education omnibus budget bill. HB 4328, the agency omnibus budget, passed 59-51, with Representative Tom Hooker (R- Byron Center) joining the Democratic caucus in voting no.

Democrats criticized Republicans for not putting Medicaid expansion in the budget.

Governor Rick Snyder had called on the Legislature to expand Medicaid eligibility to 133 percent of the federal poverty level as the federal Affordable Care Act demanded. The U.S. Supreme Court said Congress could not require the states expand eligibility, but Mr. Snyder said doing so would save the state a lot of money while providing greater care to lower income persons.

Rep. Matt Lori (R-Constantine), Chair of the House Appropriations Community Health Subcommittee, said it was difficult to put together the Department of Community Health budget without the Medicaid expansion dollars. Mr. Lori indicated he supports the expansion, but also said more education needed to be done to get the Legislature to support it.

Democrats criticized other provisions in the budget, including an amendment adopted Tuesday that took the $25 million in funding for the film incentive program and put it toward local infrastructure projects, along with another $25 million taken from the business attraction and community revitalization appropriation. Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville (R-Monroe) was quick to defend the film incentive program and was confident the funding would be restored.

HB 4228, the school aid, community colleges and higher education budget bill, passed with a 58-52 vote. Reps. Bob Genetski (R-Saugatuck) and Martin Howrylak (R-Troy) were the only Republicans to vote no, along with the entire Democratic caucus.

Within the school aid budget, all schools would have a $7,000 per pupil allowance after an equity payment of $34 per student for schools with the minimum foundation allowance of $6,966.

posted by PAA Online , Friday, April 26, 2013 1:06 PM
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Senate Continues Work on Budget

K-12: The Senate K-12 school aid budget on Wednesday moved a bit closer to matching the Administration’s recommendation after it adopted an amendment that would allocate Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System (MPSERS) payments to districts the way the Governor intended, rather than repealing that provision the way the Senate had first proposed.

The Governor's February budget recommendation continued the $155 million appropriation into fiscal year 2013-14, but the Senate budget as it left the Subcommittee and full Appropriations Committee repealed that provision and instead used $132 million of the funding to provide a $50 increase in the basic and a $100 increase in the minimum foundation allowance, bringing the minimum up from $6,966 to $7,066.

Sen. Patrick Colbeck (R-Canton Township) introduced an amendment in the full Senate Appropriations Committee to essentially undo the Senate's idea and return that portion of the budget (SB 182) back to the way the Governor had proposed it and the House supported.

The provision was one of the biggest points of difference between the Senate and the House budgets, but now is no longer. The amendment won on a 20-15 vote with Democrats aiding in that passage. It was not clear which Republicans had voted in favor of the amendment because it was not a roll call vote.

After 16 proposed amendments, SB 182 was passed by the Senate on a 21-15 vote.

Education: The budget for the Department of Education (SB 196) saw no changes from how it left a Senate Appropriations subcommittee. The bill passed 24-12 with Sen. Tory Rocca (R-Sterling Heights) voting with Democrats in opposition to the bill.

Military & Veteran Affairs: Sen. Vincent Gregory (D-Southfield) won the support of half of the Republican caucus to include his amendment that would require all complaints of abuse or neglect at either the Grand Rapids or the D.J. Jacobetti veterans homes to be referred to the director of nursing within 10 days. Further, on a monthly basis, that person would report those complaints to the director of the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency, the House and Senate fiscal agencies, and members of both chambers' appropriations subcommittees. SB 187 was passed by the Senate 33-3 with Sen. Morris Hood III (D-Detroit), Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) and Sen. Coleman Young (D-Detroit) voting in opposition.

State Police: As expected, SB 185 saw little debate. The Senate budget did not include $4 million General Fund, one-time money proposed by the governor for a disaster and emergency response contingency fund because it is expected to be accounted for in separate legislation introduced on Wednesday (SB 330). The budget passed 33-3 with Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor), Sen. Coleman Young II (D-Detroit) and Sen. Morris Hood (D-Detroit) voting in opposition and Sen. Bruce Caswell (R-Hillsdale) absent from session.

Natural Resources: The Senate version of the DNR budget as proposed includes about $11.3 million additional funding reflecting the increase of hunting and fishing license fees. Revenue from the fees would replace appropriation authority for another part of the budget, as well as support three new grant programs for game and fishing habitats. It also includes $2.7 million for off-road vehicle license fees. The budget (SB 188 ) passed 26-10 along party lines except for Sen. Morris Hood III (D-Detroit) voting in favor of the bill and Sen. Bruce Caswell (R-Hillsdale) absent from session.

Agriculture & Rural Development: The Senate budget added $150,000 General Fund and one worker for an economic development specialist targeting the Upper Peninsula. It also included $1.7 million General Fund to provide for start-up costs for forestry affidavit program in two Senate bills, as well as $100,000 General Fund to conduct a survey and registration of existing agriculture drains, and $200,000 General Fund for a study to help determine why some wells in Ottawa County are drawing salt water. The bill was reported 32-4, with Sen. Morris Hood III (D-Detroit), Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor), Sen. Coleman Young (D-Detroit) and Sen. Bert Johnson (D-Highland Park) voting in opposition.

Environmental Quality: The Senate budget is $1.5 million gross under the governor's recommendation due to the Senate subcommittee not including hazardous waste management fee increases proposed by Governor Snyder. The final budget (SB 195) passed 29-7 with Sen. Glenn Anderson (D-Westland), Sen. Vincent Gregory (D-Southfield), Senate Democratic Floor Leader Tupac Hunter (D-Detroit), and Senator Hopgood (D-Taylor) voting in favor of the bill with Senate Republicans.

Higher Education: Senate Democrats once again attempted to remove the School Aid Fund money in the higher education budget (SB 193). Senator Morris Hood III (D- Detroit) proposed an amendment to the higher education budget that would remove the School Aid Fund money and instead appropriate General Fund dollars. Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Lawton), chair of the Senate Appropriations Higher Education Subcommittee, opposed the amendment, saying such an amendment would blow a major hole in the budget - $200 million to be exact - and opposed its adoption. Sen. Tory Rocca (R-Sterling Heights), Sen. Goeff Hansen (R-Hart), Sen. Mike Green (R-Mayville) and Sen. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge) joined Democrats to support the amendment, but it was not enough for adoption. In all, the budget was passed 21-15 with Mr. Hansen, Mr. Jones, Mr. Rocca and Sen. Mike Nofs (R-Battle Creek) joining Democrats in opposition.

Community Colleges: Sen. Glenn Anderson (D-Westland) introduced the amendment to remove any School Aid Fund from the budget (SB 199), but it was defeated despite support from some Republican colleagues (Sen. Jack Brandenburg of Harrison Township, Mr. Colbeck, Mr. Green, Mr. Hansen, Mr. Jones and Mr. Rocca). The Senate budget includes $1.1 million to support the Michigan Virtual Learning Collaborative recommended by Governor Rick Snyder and is largely similar to what Mr. Snyder had proposed in his February budget recommendations.

It passed 21-15 with all Democrats and Mr. Colbeck, Mr. Hansen, Mr. Jones and Mr. Rocca in opposition. Sen. Bruce Caswell (R-Hillsdale) was absent from session.

The Senate completed work on the following budget bills this week: Corrections, General Government, DHS, Insurance and Financial Services, Judiciary, Transportation and Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. They are scheduled for full Senate action next week.

posted by PAA Online , 1:05 PM
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RTW Penalties Dropped From House Budgets

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.

posted by PAA Online , 1:05 PM
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Economic Indicator Report Shows Improvements for Michigan

The Senate Fiscal Agency released its economic indicator report showing improvements in a few categories at both the state and per-person level. Personal income in the state increased 3.5 percent in 2012 and per-person increased by 3.4 percent. The 3.5 percent on the state level mirrors the average increase experienced nationally and places Michigan’s growth 22^ndout of the 50 states. The per-person increase of 3.4 percent is greater than the national average of 2.7 percent, ranking Michigan 8^th out of the 50 states.

Both Corporate and Domestic profits increased in 2012 after having considerable rises in the previous year as well. Corporate profits increased by 6.8 percent and Domestic profits had an increase of 9.5 percent in 2012. Corporate profits exceeded $2 trillion in the fourth quarter, marking the highest level in the post-World War II era in both nominal and inflation-adjusted terms.

Unemployment rates also decreased among most Michigan cities and Ann Arbor once again had the lowest rate of 5.3 percent, although that represented no change since last January. The unemployment rate in January of last year for the Detroit-Warren-Livonia area was 11.3 percent but that decreased to 10.2 percent in February of this year. The majority of areas in Michigan had the unemployment rate decrease by approximately 0.7 percent.

posted by PAA Online , 1:04 PM
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April 19 Survey Results

In the April 19th edition of PAAdvisory, readers were asked if the United States Senate’s failure to move a variety of gun control measures was a good move or a bad move.

44 percent of respondents believe the move was good while 56 percent responded they believe it was a bad move.

posted by PAA Online , 1:03 PM
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PAAdvisory Briefs

Governor Snyder Signs Recreational Vehicle Reform

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed legislation Tuesday, designed to provide recreational vehicle (RV) dealers the same regulatory structure for the sale of motorized and non-motorized RVs. House Bills 4052 and 4053, both sponsored by Representative Ken Kurtz (R-Coldwater) are now Public Acts 16 and 17, respectively.

Dem Legislators Call for Peters to Run for U.S. Senate

U.S. Representative Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Hills) is the frontrunner and most probable Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. This was supported when 54 Democratic members of the Legislature signed an open letter calling for Mr. Peters to run. Congressman Gary Peters has shown interest in running but up until this point has not provided a definitive response; however, it seems imminent Mr. Peters will announce he is running, especially given the fact that his one potential major opponent, Debbie Dingell, has declared she will not run.

Attorney General Rules Natural Resource Fund Not For Dredging

Attorney General Bill Schuette ruled that the Natural Resource Trust Fund was created, by voters in 1984, to finance specific environmental projects and purposes but that dredging harbors along the Great Lakes was not one of those purposes. The trust fund was created most notably for: the acquisition of land, acquisition of land rights for recreational purposes or for the land’s environmental importance or scenic qualities or to develop public recreation facilities. Mr. Schuette made it clear that dredging existing harbors is considered maintenance of already developed facilities, therefore; cannot be considered development of new recreational facilities. The State Parks Endowment Fund and the Conservation and Recreation Legacy Fund both include maintenance as acceptable uses of their funds.

Report Shows Effects of 2009 Smoking Ban Legislation

The Department of Community Health released a report showing the effects of the legislation banning smoking in workplaces, Public Act 188 (PA 188), now that almost three years has elapsed. The biggest overall effect in restaurants and bars is that compliance rate is now 95 percent across the state. The report also cited research conducted by the University of Michigan showing that no significant affect can be associated with the ban on aggregate restaurant and bar sales. Furthermore, the 1,250 reported violations of the ban from 2010-11 fell to 560 reported violations in 2011-12.

Attorney General Names New Chief Legal Counsel

Attorney General Bill Schuette has named Matthew Schneider to be his new Chief Legal Counsel. Matthew Schneider currently is Chief of Staff and General Counsel at the Michigan Supreme Court and previously was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan. Mr. Schneider will be succeeding Richard Bandstra, upon his retirement on the 31^st of May.

Slight Error Correction

In last week’s PAAdvisory, U.S. Representative Gary Peters was mistakenly identified as a Republican. Rest-assured, Mr. Peters has not changed party affiliation.

posted by PAA Online , 1:02 PM
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Question of the Week 4-26-13

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