LANSING – The Michigan Senate Wednesday gave final approval to the School Aid Omnibus budget, which includes funding for K-12 education, community colleges and higher education, along mostly party lines. The bill now goes to Governor Rick Snyder.
Sen. Roger Kahn (R-Saginaw Township), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, praised HB 4228 as a bipartisan budget and highlighted several items, but Senate Democrats disagreed.
The budget cleared the Senate 25-12 with Sen. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge) joining Democrats in opposition. Sen. Coleman Young II (D-Detroit) was absent.
Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D-Taylor) began a string of statements of opposition by Senate Democrats that included Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer of East Lansing, Sen. Morris Hood III of Detroit, Sen. Bert Johnson of Highland Park and Sen. Steve Bieda of Warren. All were opposed to the use of School Aid Fund dollars in other budgets where they believe they should not be permitted.
?There is double the number of school districts operating under a deficit than when the governor took office,? Johnson said, adding that he believes it will only get worse before it gets better.
And Democrats also criticized language regarding university stem cell research reporting.
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