Michigan Democrats passed a sweeping $83 billion state budget, cutting teachers’ pensions and school-safety spending to fund ambitious new business projects — and more than $330 million for lawmakers’ pet projects.
Thursday was a difficult day for Republicans, who “were given 45 minutes roughly to read the bill,” a 1,000+-page document, according to state Rep. Ann Bollin.
“That’s right, another balanced, bipartisan budget in the books that will make a real difference in people’s lives,” tweeted Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after it passed.
But Bollin said the budget was far from bipartisan.
“The budget passed out of the Michigan House of Representatives on party lines,” she told The Post. “There was not one Republican that voted for that budget. So she is speaking on behalf of one chamber. It was not bipartisan in both chambers. That budget that is sent to her was partisan and politically directed, in my opinion.”
With control over the statehouse, state Senate and governorship, Michigan Democrats don’t need to be bipartisan. They can pass sweeping measures without consulting the Republicans.
One controversial change in the budget: reducing total contributions to teachers’ pension funds to finance other areas.
And it drastically cuts funding to one school-safety and mental-health program from $328 million to $25 million. All in all, Whitmer announced $133 million for such programs, still a drastic drop from previous years.
This is not to suggest Democrats are not spending much on education. In total, the budget includes $19 billion for school aid split up among various programs, such as $200 million to fund free meals for public-school students.
With their extensive control of Michigan’s government bodies, Democrats are earmarking massive funds to specific businesses, as well.
As state Rep. Mike Harris said, “The budget earmarks $17 million for zoos, $2 million for a boxing gym, $5 million for a theater, more than $18 million for a few sports complexes and fieldhouses, $1 million for a public radio station in Detroit, and hundreds of millions more for a wide variety of other projects and entities.”
Harris describes these initiatives as “pork projects and other wasteful spending.”
Harris also accused Whitmer’s administration of a “record of unwise spending,” mentioning that “an ally of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was awarded a $20 million earmark for a new company she created, and she used the funding to buy a $4,500 coffee maker and a first-class international plane ticket.”
The budget also funds the Whitmer-proposed Michigan Innovation Fund to the tune of $60 million — but doesn’t include any guidelines on grant giving.
Its swift passage was business as usual Whitmer’s Michigan, where the sky’s the limit for Democratic spending initiatives. The budget is going to Whitmer for her final approval.
