Michigan lawmakers set the stage Wednesday for the approval of a new state budget. Final votes could come as soon as Thursday.
The final dollar amount for a spending deal worked out between Democratic and Republican legislative leaders hasn’t yet been announced. But the Republican majority in the state House of Representatives confirmed a handful of details to reporters after the chamber's session Wednesday.
School districts would receive a record $10,050 per student, an increase of $442. They've been operating since July 1 without knowing how much money to expect from the state this school year.
Dedicated funding for universal free school meals would remain. That was a sticking point in negotiations for Democrats, who lead the state Senate.
The agreement also sets aside $321 million for school safety and mental health. That money would apply to private schools too.
Republicans succeeded in cutting funding for roughly 2,000 unfilled state jobs. Spending from the state’s general fund would decrease by $800 million. And the deal would scale back empty or unused state office space.
State government is currently funded for the next week thanks to a last-minute budget extension lawmakers approved early Wednesday morning. Lawmakers missed both a July 1 statutory deadline and an end-of-the-fiscal year October 1 deadline to get a budget done.
State Senator Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) said the process shouldn’t have played out this way. But a final deal is coming together.
“The fact that we were able to bury the hatchet and actually get to a place where we’re going to get things done and government is still open right now and everything is functioning and people are going to school today, that’s a really good sign,” McMorrow said Wednesday.
Logistics-wise, a lot still needs to happen before a final vote on a budget deal can take place.
As in past years, lawmakers are splitting the budget into a general government omnibus bill and a bill to fund K-12 education.
Conference committees, made up of members from both the House and Senate to work out differences between the chambers’ proposals, will meet at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. If past years are any clue, it’s unlikely those committees will unveil the final proposal until hours later.
Whatever comes out of those committees will likely be the final product that gets voted on.
In the lead-up to that process Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a meeting on earmark requests. It’s one of the budget transparency concessions House Republicans got from Democrats in the Senate. The past couple budgets required lawmakers to name their spending requests in a report after-the-fact.
McMorrow, who chairs the budget subcommittee for economic and community development, said she sees the changes as a good thing.
“We will have a hearing. We will make sure we read into the record all of what's going to be in the budget. And I think that is a massive step from where we’ve been, frankly, for the last few decades where it’s all been done in secrecy,” McMorrow said.
The House held similar committee hearings this summer. Its budget proposal only included requests from the two Democrats who presented at the time, leaving out dozens of others.
As part of the spending deal, the House gave Democrats and other lawmakers another chance to get their earmarks in during a hearing on Wednesday.
State Representative Nancy Jenkins-Arno (R-Clayton) chairs the House budget subcommittee for Labor and Economic Opportunity.
“We’re just happy to be able to bring it back and bring more projects to the forefront. It’s all about transparency. We want to make sure that we have as much information about what the legislators are wanting to do. And so, this is an opportunity to get that information out there,” Jenkins-Arno said.
It’s unclear how many of the newly presented proposals on either side of the Legislature will make the final budget. Earlier in the year, House lawmakers pledged to cap earmark spending at around $100,000.
What number lawmakers land on will be among the details to watch for as the process unfolds.
