The Detroit News. February 7, 2018
Budget targets right priorities
Gov. Rick Snyder’s final budget proposal Wednesday recapped how far the state has come since he took office in 2011, and it also served as a testament to how responsible budgeting can lead to increased investments in priorities such as education and roads.
Snyder’s $56.8 billion budget offers both Republicans and Democrats something to like, and the GOP majority should sign off on much of this proposal for fiscal year 2019.
Increased spending for schools is a highlight. Yet the anticipated roll out of his so-called Marshall Plan for talent, with a price tag of roughly $100 million, was missing from the presentation. Apparently, that’s coming later in the month. The one-time funding would come from a budget surplus, but Snyder has indicated he wants the investment to continue in future years, when no one can be certain a surplus will exist.
In his final year in office, the governor plans to focus on talent development and closing the skills gap. And the state’s K-12 schools are essential to those goals.
Snyder referred to the budget boost for K-12 schools as “the highest increase in the minimum per-pupil funding amount in the past 15 years.” That should be welcome news to teachers and administrators, who have long criticized the governor for not giving schools more money.
In his presentation, Snyder highlighted an upward trend in school spending. Since fiscal year 2011, schools have seen a nearly $2 billion funding hike. When all funding sources, including federal, state and local, are taken into account, Michigan would be offering $12,000 per student next school year. Yet as Snyder said, money is not enough to improve student outcomes, so it’s important how schools invest the additional funds.
Here’s a snapshot of what the governor is proposing for education:
?- A per-pupil spending increased of $312 million, which would provide a $120-$240 per-pupil increase, with a focus on closing the equity gap between wealthy and poor districts.
? Up to $50 per high school student enrolled in a career and technical training program.
? $1.4 billion to provide additional support and services for the state’s 200,000 special needs students, with $5 million in new funding for the Early On program.
? University funding would see a 2 percent boost “to provide students with more access to higher education opportunities.”
We disagree with the governor’s proposal to cut from the state’s shared time program, which benefits both public schools and nonpublic school students. The program allows for public schools to offer non-core, elective courses to students who aren’t enrolled in the district full-time. Snyder also tried to reduce funding last year, and the Legislature ignored that request and preserved most of the money. Lawmakers should do the same this year. This fiscal year, just $135 million is allocated to shared time instruction - a small percentage of the $12.6 billion K-12 budget. Savings should come elsewhere.
Other noteworthy budget proposals:
? $175 million in new money for the state’s roads in addition to $150 million in extra income tax revenue that will be redirected for road maintenance under a 2015 law, The Detroit News reports.
? $3.1 million to train and hire 50 new Michigan State Police troopers and an additional $3 million to support 80 new troopers to offset trooper retirements. The Department of Corrections would receive $9.2 million to train more than 350 corrections officers.
The condition of Michigan’s roads this winter are all the argument the Legislature should need to shift the money Snyder is requesting for infrastructure.
Absent in this budget is the steep income tax cuts GOP lawmakers are seeking. Snyder was right to keep them out, and focus instead on beefing up funding for neglected needs, such as roads and police training.
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The Alpena News. February 9, 2018
Everyone benefits from Kiwanis, Boosters clubs flag project
When you have developed a project that has proven popular and received positive accolades in the community, why not duplicate the success?
That is the thinking of Alpena Kiwanis and Alpena Boosters Club members, who have received approval from municipal council to create another Avenue of Flags from the Chisholm Street bridge along the bi-path to Duck Park and then over to Long Rapids Road. The new flags will serve as a complement to the two clubs’ initial project that created an Avenue of Flags from Little Flanders Field along Washington Avenue and the Thunder Bay River.
The flags are put up and on display for Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Patriots Day and Veterans Day.
While the initial flags on Washington honored veterans whose names appear in Flanders Field, the new flag avenue will honor anyone a sponsors wishes. Residents who want to honor or remember someone can do so by sponsoring a flag, which costs $50 a year. A nameplate will be on the holder the flag is placed into for display.
Last year the Washington Avenue flags were spectacular each holiday they were displayed. The project was a tremendous success and earned the respect of a grateful and proud community.
We expect the same for the Chisholm extension this year.
Congratulations to these two clubs for making this happen.
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Times Herald (Port Huron). February 8, 2018
Bills might stop the next Larry Nassar
It shouldn’t take a law and the threat of prison to make us stand up for kids. But if that is what it takes, passing that law has to be the Michigan Legislature’s first priority.
In the wake of Larry Nassar’s horrific crimes against more than 250 women and girls, three state representatives have introduced a package of bills that aim to better protect victims of criminal sexual conduct.
“We must remove any barriers that hinder the reporting this criminal behavior, to make sure the proper authorities are alerted and action to protect students, athletes, and patients is taken,” said state Rep. Klint Kesto, chairman of the House Law and Justice Committee and one of the bill sponsors. “Nassar victimized young girls for two decades and this legislation will prevent another monster from doing the same.”
The bills would do three things:
.Make it a crime for a person in a position of authority to prevent someone from reporting a crime.
.Make it mandatory for athletic coaches and trainers to report criminal sexual conduct offenses.
.Add sexual offenses to the OK2Say program for confidential reporting of on-campus crime.
“The victims of Nassar stated over and over they felt bullied or prevented from having a voice,” said Rep. Kim LaSata, of Bainbridge Township.
Too many people involved in the Nassar monstrosities lost track of who and what they were obligated to protect. Instead of standing up for his young victims and the truth, they stood in the way in shameful attempts to protect and preserve the institutions - Michigan State University, USA Gymnastics, others - that enabled Nassar’s crimes. Their negligence appears now to have damaged those institutions far more than they could have imagined.
We have written about gaps in Michigan’s duty-to-report statutes before. It is no surprise that teachers would be obligated to report assaults against children but that coaches in the same building would not have the same mandatory duty. Legal duty, that is; coaches and athletic trainers still have a moral obligation to protect young people, as do we all.
Whatever happens with this legislation, that doesn’t change.
When they are finished with these bills, their sponsors should look at other gaps in Michigan law that leave the most vulnerable unprotected against abuse and assault.
One that needs attention is the duty for all adults to report child abuse and neglect. Many states have such requirements, but Michigan has no law to punish the relatives who watched Mackenzie Maison tortured to death. Another gap protects counselors operating as religious leaders against criminal sexual conduct charges.
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Lansing State Journal. February 8, 2018
Gov. Snyder plays it safe with the state budget
On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Snyder announced the end of the four-year program experimenting with privatizing prison food service as part of his 2018-19 budget plan.
It’s an acknowledgment of a failed experiment - with maggots in food, kitchen workers accused of smuggling and staff caught having sex with inmates - that shows action to address the problem.
It’s good to see and was the most surprising part of a $56.8 billion state budget proposal that had very few surprises.
Bringing prison food service back into the fold of state government will cost taxpayers - the budget calls for an additional $13.7 million for the transition to end the current $158.8 million contract with Trinity Services Group.
And it has the potential to create administrative woes for the state’s 33 facilities, which house and feed around 40,000 inmates.
State to end problem-plagued prison food contract
Appropriate health and safety standards must be reinstated, meal shortages must be addressed and a workforce of around 350 people must be identified and hired by July 31.
Yet “the benefits of continuing on that path don’t outweigh the costs and we should transition back to doing it in-house,” Snyder said.
It’s a smart move to acknowledge privatization’s shortcomings and correct a plan that isn’t working.
However, the process won’t be easy or quick. It must be completed carefully and, more importantly, state officials have to learn from it to prevent repeating the mistake down the road.
The remainder of Snyder’s 2018-19 budget plan attempts to control and prioritize spending increases amid the simultaneous call for tax cuts from legislators.
(Gov. Rick Snyder presents his $56.8 billion budget)
Lawmakers and protesters gathered in the Capitol Wednesday to hear Gov. Rick Snyder present his $56.8 billion budget for the 2018-2019 budget year, which begins on Oct. 1 Wochit
Among other highlights:
An increase of $120-240 in per-pupil funding for all K-12 schools
$25 million to help address the Flint water crisis
$175 million in general funding for road improvements
A 2% increase in university funding - up $28.6 million to $1.5 billion statewide
$600,000 to help reduce and prevent sexual assault on college campuses
Is the budget a good starting point? Sure. Will it make the leaps and bounds needed to address ongoing problems in infrastructure, education or safety? Unlikely.
More work remains to be done - by both the executive and legislative branches - to ensure a budget that meets the needs of Michigan’s residents, and moves the state forward.
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