Michigan Republicans Introduce Bills Trying to Undo Some of Whitmer’s Budget Cuts

 

Michigan Republican legislators introduced supplemental spending bills Tuesday trying to undo some of the spending cuts Governor Gretchen Whitmer axed from Michigan’s final budget.

The 23 bills put forward by the Republicans would restore money that would have gone to charter schools, veteran services, rural hospital grants, and an autism program, according to the Detroit News.

A total of $65 million would go back to these programs: $35 million for $240-per-pupil increases for charter school students; $15 million for summer school literacy programs; $1 million for an autism program; $15 million PFAS and emerging contaminants grant for municipal airports, the Detroit News reports.

These bills are viewed as potential overrides if Whitmer’s Thursday meeting with Republican leaders doesn’t go well. According to Michigan Bridge, Republicans might send similar spending packages to the governor’s desk to see whether she will veto programs a second time.

“Give her a second bite of the apple to take money away from autistic therapy? Anything is possible,” said Amber McCann, a spokesperson for Michigan’s Senate Majorit Leader Mike Shirkey told Michigan Bridge.

Last week, Whitmer vetoed 147 items totally nearly $1 billion from the Republican’s proposed $59.9 billion budget. She told Michigan Radio Monday that it wasn’t too late to restore some of the budget’s vetoed items.

Whitmer published an op-ed in the Detroit Free Press saying she eliminated programs that were meant to help “lobbyists and vendors.”

“I carefully eliminated many government programs the Legislature repeatedly doled out to lobbyists and vendors with no concern for meaningful outcomes. And I’ve called in the Legislature to work with me on a supplemental budget that will protect Michiganders’ safety and access to health care. There’s still a lot of work to do, but I’m optimistic that my partners in the Legislature will also realize that if we build a stronger Michigan for everyone, we must do it together. “

State Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr. (D-East Lansing), who worked closely with Whitmer on the budget, told Michigan Bridge that he would not be supporting any “veto overrides” and called it “another attempt to not actually negotiate and solve the problem.”

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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of Battleground State News. Follow Zachery on Twitter.
Photo “Gretchen Whitmer” by Gretchen Whitmer. Background Photo “Michigan Capital” by Brian Charles Watson. CC BY-SA 3.0.