state budget

LANSING, MI (MPRN)--   The process for adopting a state budget this year was swift, secretive, and successful at getting a plan finalized just before the deadline. That allowed Governor Gretchen Whitmer to a $62.7 billion dollar state budget just before the new fiscal year began Thursday.

The process was abbreviated and the negotiations were largely behind closed doors. But the governor cheered the fact that Democrats and Republicans worked together to adopt a budget on time.

LANSING, MI (MPRN)--   Michigan schools will finalize their budgets Monday – but without knowing how much money they’ll have to work with.

It’s the start of the new fiscal year for school districts, and that means that schools in Michigan need to know now how much money they are going to use throughout the year, but lawmakers in Lansing have yet to give them a clear picture of what they can expect their budgets to be.

Republican Representative Aaron Miller is chair of a subcommittee focused on education spending. He says this situation has happened in the past.

LANSING, MI (MPRN)--   Michigan can expect to see some economic growth over the next few years, but for the most part the state’s economy is expected to stay flat. 

The Michigan Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference was held Friday. State money experts gathered with economists to figure out how much money will be in Michigan’s purse for the next budget.

The amount of money in the state’s general fund budget is expected to grow, but not by a lot. 

LANSING, MI (MPRN)--   Governor Rick Snyder signed the state’s general fund spending plan for fiscal year 2019 Thursday, and it includes a provision that his administration won’t enforce.

The provision would cut funding to Planned Parenthood. It requires county health departments to favor family planning clinics that don’t offer abortions. Under state law, public money already cannot be directly used for abortions – so this is money that would go toward unrelated services.

LANSING, MI (MPRN)--   Governor Rick Snyder and state lawmakers just got a windfall of $315 million to spend in the new state budget. 

It’s the result of better-than-expected economic growth that yielded more tax revenue.

State Senator David Hildenbrand chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. He says Republicans will look into paying down debt, and putting money into the state’s “rainy day” savings.

LANSING, MI (AP)--   Gov. Rick Snyder says the state budget should be resolved soon because K-12 school districts and many municipalities start their fiscal year three months before the state does.

LANSING, MI (AP)--   Michigan revenues are $333 million lower over this fiscal year and next than projected earlier, forcing Governor Rick Snyder and lawmakers to scale back the spending plan that's been in the works for months.

The Snyder administration and legislative economists agreed to revised numbers Tuesday a key step need before the next state budget is finalized in coming weeks.

State budget director John Roberts says spending levels should still rise, but not as much as proposed in the governor's proposal.

  LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan House has approved a $38.8 billion budget bill that would boost spending on road construction, dental coverage for low-income teens and the state attorney general's criminal investigation into the Flint water crisis.
Big-ticket new spending approved 76-32 Wednesday includes the state's share of Medicaid expansion costs under the federal health care law and expenses associated with providing expensive specialty drugs to people with Hepatitis C or cystic fibrosis.

LANSING, MI (AP)--   A Michigan House committee approved a roughly $47 billion budget for most state departments.  

The committee voted along party lines Wednesday to move the massive budget bill to the House floor.

Most Democrats passed on their votes, rather than directly voting against it after the GOP-controlled committee rejected dozens of their proposed amendments.