On Thursday, February 9, 2012, Governor Snyder presented his budget recommendations for Fiscal Years (FYs) 2013 and 2014. His recommendations focus on education, infrastructure, public safety, health and human services, environment, and information technology with 75 percent of the total, suggested budget devoted to health, human services and education.
According to the Revenue Estimating Conference the School Aid Fund will see a 2.7% increase in revenue for FY 2013. The governor suggested other increases in education which include an additional $200 million in General Fund money for best practice and performance-based funding for our school districts and a 3 percent, again performance-based, increase for community colleges and state universities has been recommended.
Governor Snyder is recommending an additional $47 million in general fund dollars to Michigan State Police (MSP). As discussed in my January Monthly Minute, the governor and legislature recognize the importance of public safety. Some of the funds would go to adding 100 state troopers and additional staffing for Forensic Sciences within MSP to reduce the number of days for processing forensic tests in criminal investigations.
The governor is suggesting a 2 percent increase in revenue sharing. This is an extra $13.6 million that would go to our local units of government. In addition, he is recommending an expansion of health programs such as the Healthy Kids Dental Program and partial coverage for treatment for Autism within Medicaid and MIChild.
For additional information on the governor’s budget recommendation, I encourage you to read the overview prepared by the Senate Fiscal Agency which is a non-partisan organization. You can view the summary by going to http://www.senate.michigan.gov/sfa/Publications/BudUpdates/OverviewGovsRecFY13.pdf
Please know that the governor’s recommendations are just that, recommendations. The legislature will hold hearings and continue developing the budget through the legislative process. As a member of Appropriations and Chair of the Transportation and General Government budgets, I spent much of this past fall meeting with the Departments within my budgets to get an update on the outcomes for our many programs and services. Now that we have the governor’s budget proposal, the next step is for the public to weigh in on the process through our Subcommittee hearings. I will be sure to keep you up to date through my Monthly Minutes.
Source: State Senator John Pappageorge