Michigan Democrats passed a sweeping $83 billion state budget that cuts teacher pensions and school safety spending to fund ambitious new projects, while freeing up more than $330 million for lawmakers’ pet projects.
Thursday was a difficult day for Republicans. According to state Rep. Ann Bollin, “they were only given about 45 minutes to read the bill,” a document that is more than 1,000 pages long.
“Yes, we have another balanced, bipartisan budget that will make a real difference in people’s lives,” Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer tweeted after the budget was passed.
But Bolin said the budget is far from a bipartisan agreement.
“The budget was passed by the Michigan House of Representatives along party lines,” she told The Post. “Not a single Republican voted for that budget, so she’s speaking for one house. It wasn’t bipartisan in either house. I believe the budget that was sent to her was partisan and politically directed.”
Michigan Democrats don’t need to be bipartisan because they control the state Assembly, state Senate and governorship, allowing them to pass sweeping legislation without consulting Republicans.
One of the more controversial changes in the budget is a reduction in total contributions to the teacher pension fund to help fund other areas.
She also slashed funding for school safety and mental health programs from $328 million to $25 million. Overall, Governor Whitmer announced $133 million to be spent on these programs, but that’s still a significant decrease from last year.
This is not to suggest that Democrats are spending less on education: The budget includes $19 billion in total school aid, split among a variety of programs, including $200 million for free school meals for public school students.
Democrats, who control broad swaths of Michigan government agencies, also allocate huge amounts of money to certain corporations.
“The budget allocates $17 million for the zoo, $2 million for a boxing gym, $5 million for a theater, more than $18 million for several sports complexes and arenas, $1 million for Detroit’s public radio station, and hundreds of millions of dollars for a variety of other projects and organizations,” said State Assemblyman Mike Harris.
Harris described these efforts as “profit-making projects and other wasteful spending.”
Harris also criticized the Whitmer administration’s “record of reckless spending,” saying, “An ally of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was given a $20 million budget for a new company she started, but she used the money to buy a $4,500 coffee maker and a first-class international airline ticket.”
The budget also includes $60 million in funding for Governor Whitmer’s proposed Michigan Innovation Fund, but does not include guidelines for disbursing the grants.
The swift passage of the budget was standard practice in Michigan, where Governor Whitmer has no caps on Democrats’ spending plans and the bill is subject to final approval by her.
