The Michigan House of Representatives passed a nearly $76 billion proposal for the next state budget late Wednesday night.
The plan provides nearly $5 billion less than the current state budget. Some of the departments that took the biggest hits include Health and Human Services, Labor and Economic Opportunity, and Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
State Representative Ann Bollin (R-Brighton) chairs the House Appropriations Committee. She said the House saved money by funding departments at levels closer to what they’ve spent in recent years.
“Our approach has been to go to actually what we’re spending, and to be not only responsible but responsive to what the needs are across the state. You know, education, public safety, managing our money responsibly,” Bollin said Wednesday afternoon.
The spending bills passed with all Democrats and two Republicans voting against the legislation Wednesday night, deep into the evening.
Democrats have been skeptical of the House’s tactics. They argue lawmakers can’t cut their way to a balanced budget.
The Republican proposal assumes the state will be spending $300 million less on Medicaid as new work requirements and other federal rules get put into place.
It doesn’t account for possible money from a tax revenue plan the House Speaker has suggested but not fully outlined. Governor Gretchen Whitmer has also called for raising new revenue with a plan that leadership in both legislative chambers have expressed some skepticism over.
One driver of lowering spending is a projected $1.8 billion funding hole. Much of that stems from lower state revenue and less federal support for social safety net programs like Medicaid and food assistance.
House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton) blamed Republican House leadership for siding with President Donald Trump and H.R. 1, the federal law that cut funding.
“We have a speaker that claims to have a close relationship with the president. What’s the point of being friends if the friends take away a good chunk of the 40% of the federal funds that make up your state budget?” Puri asked reporters.
State Representative Jason Morgan (D-Ann Arbor) said residents would rather see lawmakers invest in the future.
“They don’t want to see us just slashing things because it makes us feel good about saving money, they want to make sure that we’re making thoughtful, long-term decisions that would invest in people and in our state,” Morgan told reporters after Wednesday’s House Appropriations Committee meeting.
This is an early move in the budget-writing process. While some of the spending items could make it to the final budget, many are likely to see dramatic changes before the Democrat-controlled Senate and governor’s office agree.
For example, one Republican-backed proposal would lower state operations funding for Michigan State University and the University of Michigan by more than 60 percent.
Morgan said he doesn’t see the cuts as a serious effort.
“If you were to realistically succeed in doing that, it would devastate not just Ann Arbor and East Lansing, but the entire state economy because of the amount of money that they’d be cutting,” Morgan said.
Bollin, however, said the cuts look worse than they actually are. She said Michigan and MSU both would still get a lot of money from the state.
“It may not necessarily be in the operations under the Higher Ed budget, but you’ll see them dispersed in other places in the budget,” Bollin said.
Bollin said the House proposal invests more in schools that have a higher portion of in-state students while also trying to provide some oversight over Michigan and MSU, in the face of several scandals in recent years.
Some of the other spending highlights for Republicans in the budget include more funding for roads, extra money to get kids caught up on reading, and extending free school meal programs to private school children.
House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) said passing a budget now gives him more time than he had last year to personally oversee parts of the budget process and get his priorities done. Hall spoke after the House session ended close to midnight.
“If I’m in every subcommittee, working with our subcommittees, we’re going to win even more in this budget,” Hall said. “I’m going to have time to put my own imprint on every one of those subcommittees. And I think we’ll defeat the Democrats even more decisively in this budget,' Hall said.
Getting the House budget proposal passed at this point in the spring is a major step towards passing a new state budget on time. State law requires lawmakers to pass a new budget by July 1.
Despite that, last year, the House didn’t unveil a budget proposal until August. The delay added to the state not passing the current budget until after the previous one had run out.
This year, lawmakers are feeling optimistic that won’t happen again. Especially since one of the biggest hold ups, passing a roads funding deal, is in the rear view mirror.
“I think there’s a lot more common ground that we’ve actually resolved issues”, Bollin said. “We showed that we have been able to work together.”
The state Senate has already begun moving its own budget proposal. A Senate vote on that chamber’s plan could happen within the next few weeks.
