The Senate Wednesday unanimously agreed to
not concur in the House version of the current fiscal year supplemental bill,
sending the measure to a conference committee to work out the details.
The two apparent major issues to be worked
out between the House and the Senate relative to SB
608 are the amount to appropriate in road money to offset the repairs costs
for this year’s especially harsh winter, and how to handle the Health Insurance
Claims Assessment (HICA) shortfall.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Roger
Kahn (R-Saginaw) has made no secret of his priority to fill the HICA shortfall
while House members, including House Speaker Jase Bolger (R-Marshall) and House
Appropriations Committee Chair Joe Haveman (R-Holland) see it as considerably
less of a priority. Both agree on the goal of having the supplemental to the
Governor by March 14th.
On the School Aid supplemental, the House
passed the measure Wednesday on a 107-3 vote, sending HB
4295 to the Senate for consideration. Among the noteworthy items in the
supplemental is the inclusion of $2 million in funding for a pilot program to
allow for at-risk schools to have year-round school. The measure had previously
been its own legislation, sponsored by Representative Andy Schor (D-Lansing);
however, was added to the School Aid supplemental in a floor amendment.