Michigan House lawmakers approved an $80.9 billion proposal for the state’s next budget Wednesday evening.
Democrats in the House majority say highlights of it include money spent on issues like water infrastructure, housing and public safety.
Representative Angela Witwer (D-Delta Twp) chairs the House Appropriations Committee.
“When we started out the House budget, we decided that we wanted to focus on locals, and we wanted to focus on the people. This isn’t about the politics, this is taking care of the people in Michigan,” Witwer told reporters after the spending bills had all passed the chamber.
Republican House lawmakers, however, took a sour view of the legislation. They tried dozens of times without luck to amend the budget bills before they passed.
Those attempted amendments aimed to provide more support to topics like the public-school teachers’ retirement system, local roads, and government oversight.
House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) said he wanted to see Democrats including more oversight requirements for programs the budget proposal would fund.
“I want to see them measure the programs and set priorities and focus on return on investment,” Hall said.
The House budget comes in slightly above the governor’s recommended $80.7 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2025. The state Senate could finalize its budget pitch Thursday. It began last week by passing proposals for a few state departments.
All this comes ahead of the May Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference scheduled for next Friday. That’ll be when lawmakers discover how much money the state has to work with.
The figure will help lawmakers set overall spending targets for the final budget.
Witwer said the goal is to have a final budget finished by the end of June.
Copyright 2024 Michigan Radio
