I want to start by thanking each of the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the subcommittee chairs, and our dedicated staff for all their hard work in putting together a responsible budget that will help improve our state for Michigan’s families, workers, and job creators.
Under this budget, we will have increased annual state spending on transportation by over $1.75 billion since fiscal year 2010—a boost of over 88 percent. We are investing an additional $132 million entirely to local roads, fully implementing the $1.2 billion from the 2015 roads plan a year ahead of schedule.
The K-12 budget would invest $15.2 billion in education, a total increase of nearly $400 million. Schools would see a foundation allowance boost of between $135 and $270 per pupil—the largest increase per-pupil in 18 years and $107 million more of a foundation allowance increase than the Governor’s plan. Under this budget, Michigan will have increased state funding for schools by over $2.6 billion over the past several years.
The budget plan also includes an additional $51.2 million in constitutional revenue sharing for local governments, graduates 85 new troopers, and invests $120 million for drinking water projects.
We are also restoring the Governor’s planned funding cuts in several programs, such as skilled trades training to help prepare workers for increased demand.
Discussions can and will continue on additional funding for our roads, but we need to press forward and fulfill our other obligations with resources that we currently have. It’s one of our top jobs to pass a balanced budget on time, and we owe it to our Michigan families.
I ask for your support for this budget.
The following bill was read a third time:
Senate Bill No. 143, entitled
A bill to make appropriations for the department of licensing and regulatory affairs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020; and to provide for the expenditure of the appropriations.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows: