This week, House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees reported budgets within their purvey to the full Appropriations Committees.  In their current forms, the House and Senate budgets spend significantly less than Governor Snyder’s executive recommendations.  Most of the budgets were completed by the subcommittees this week, except for the Senate’s budgets for Corrections, General Government, Health and Human Services, and Judiciary and Health and Human Services in the House.  The full House and Senate Appropriations Committee will begin their work on the budgets following the annual two-week legislative break beginning Monday.

Highlights from the budgets, as reported by their respective subcommittees, are below:

Attorney General:

• House – $450,000 for costs from wrongful imprisonments.

Corrections:

• House – The budget is below the executive recommendations, but not by much.The total spending is $2 billion, which is 0.3% more than the current fiscal year.

Education:

• House – The budget totals $347.4 million, less than the executive recommendations, and maintains cyber school funding,
• Senate – The overall budget totals $353.01 million, which is more than the current fiscal year and over the executive budget recommendations.

Environmental Quality:

• House & Senate – Neither included the executive recommended funding for seventeen employees to support the Governor’s proposed Lead and Copper Rule.
• House – Their proposed budget is $7.3 million less than the executive recommendations, and 2.6% lower than the current fiscal year.

General Government:

• House – $1 million to establish a High School Dropout Diploma Program.$12.4 million in additional one-time appropriation for revenue sharing. $34 million funding for Pure Michigan.

Higher Education:

• House – Reduced the increase to operation funding by $9 million below the executive recommendations.
• Senate – 2% increase to operation funding, $7 million less than the executive recommendation.Lowers tuition restraint from 4.2% to 3.8% or $475.

Insurance and Financial Services:

• Senate – Total funding of $66.74 million, an increase of 0.7% from the current fiscal year.

Judiciary:

• House – The proposed budget is $600,000 below the executive recommendations and includes funding to create a new pretrial risk assessment tool and $687,300 for videoconferencing equipment upgrades and maintenance.

Licensing and Regulatory Affairs:

• Senate – $10 million for the regulation of medical marijuana, $9 million less than the executive recommendation.

Military and Veterans Affairs:

• House – An increase of 1.1% to overall funding, $1 million below the executive recommendations.A reduction to the National Guard Tuition Assistance Fund.

School Aid:

• House – Totals $14.31 billion, a small increase over the executive budget recommendations.An increase of $100 to districts for the foundation allowance.$508.1 million for at risk funding, which is less than the executive budget recommendation of $529 million.
• Senate – An increase to per pupil funding of $88-$176 and full funding for cyber charter schools.While the budget is 0.9% more than the current fiscal year, it falls below the executive proposed amount by $12.8 million.

Secretary of State:

• House – Reduces the overall budget to $248.7 million, and only appropriates $710,400 to expand investigative services, instead of the $1.4 million in the executive recommendations.

State Police:

• House – A 5% increase to the overall budget from the current fiscal year, but over $250 million less than the executive recommendations.
• Senate – Provides funding for 8 employees in the Computer Crimes Unit, 150 new state troopers, and eliminates the $10 million Disaster Contingency Fund.

Technology, Management, and Budget:

• House – $30,000 appropriation to track data and metrics on state vendors. A $266.5 million deposit into the Budget Stabilization Fund.

Transportation:

• House – The proposed budget shifts $19.32 to road funding, by reducing 191 full-time employees.The overall budget is 5.6% more than the current fiscal year.

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