The Michigan Senate passed its two-bill spending plan to close the books on the state’s last budget Thursday.
One bill redirects money from the previous fiscal year to account for differences between planned and actual costs when it comes to Medicaid, veterans' homes, and other areas. The other refocuses $3.3 million in Federal Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds toward the state’s Community College Academic Catch-Up Program.
Senate Appropriations Committee chair Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) said it’s boring but necessary to keep the state’s credit score from slipping.
“When we're thinking about bonding for new projects, it is a very technical fiscal responsibility. So, if we do not get this done, you know, will it be the end of the world? No, but it does show that folks who are minding the state's coffers aren't finishing the business of the previous fiscal year,” Anthony said.
Ahead of voting, Senate Republicans unsuccessfully tried to amend the bills to add in spending on roads and bridges, stop colleges and universities from engaging in inclusion programming, and rollback the state’s income tax rate.
Senator Joe Bellino's (R-Monroe) amendment would have redistributed $500 million that the state had spent on business incentives and put it toward local roads instead.
“This is the most immediate action we can take to address our road funding crisis,” Bellino said ahead of his effort being defeated.
Meanwhile, House Republicans are pushing their own plan that would tie the book closing to a spending plan that would fund some state agencies in case a new budget doesn’t get passed by the time the current one runs out. Republicans are branding it as a government shutdown prevention plan that could keep schools and other core parts of government running.
But Anthony said it’s a “non-starter.” Despite that, she’s optimistic a deal can get done with the House.
“In the close of books supplemental that the House did present, there was a lot of alignment. We are about 85% there because most of this is very technical. There are a few points of differences, but I don't think it's anything insurmountable,” Anthony said.
Under state law, the state budget director is supposed to come out with a final report on the state’s finances within six months of the end of a fiscal year. That would mean lawmakers have until the end of the month to meet that deadline.
