Michigan Federation of Teachers & School Related Personnel
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Michigan Federation of Teachers & School Related Personnel
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Capitol Report Archives Go to current Capitol Report for links to complete archive. 2003-04 Voting Records December, 2003 November, 2003 Legislative Update 10-8-03 October, 2003 September, 2003 August, 2003 July, 2003 June, 2003 May, 2003 April, 2003 March, 2003 February, 2003 January, 2003 2002 2001 2000 |
House Rejects Tax Cut Freeze and Passes Additional Budget Cuts Budget Agreement Reached - Executive Order Approved K-12 Foundation Allowances Proration Detroit School Board Reform Election Consolidation Bills Clear Senate Panel Eliminate Professional Development Requirements 2004 LOBBY DAY may be found on the Legislative Hotline page of this website.  Return to Top House Rejects Tax Cut Freeze and Passes Additional Budget Cuts On December 16, the House defeated the delay in the income tax cuts scheduled to take effect January 1, as agreed to by the Governor and Senate Leadership to partially resolve the state's budget problems. They also passed approximately $77.1 million in additional cuts to public schools and general fund budget (on top of the $379.8 million adopted last week by Governor Granholm and the Senate). As passed, Senate Bill 556 contains $22.5 million in cuts to "categorical" school aid spending- funds given to districts in addition to the basic per pupil grant for school operations.
House Bill 4367 was then passed containing the following cuts to the General Fund:
On December 17 the Senate rejected the House's versions of Senate Bill 556 and House Bill 4367 and sent them to conference committee, where the Senate says they will sit until the House agrees to the income tax cut pause. We are vigorously lobbying to persuaded House members to approve the agreement originally made between the Governor and the Senate Leadership as explained below. Governor Granholm has threatened to call a special session of the legislature if the six-month temporary freeze on the income tax rollback is not passed before the holiday recess. A special session would include both the Senate and House. The Legislature would not be required to take any action, but they could only consider the subject laid out by the Governor. Return to Top Budget Agreement Reached - Executive Order Approved On December 10, Governor Granholm announced that she and the Senate Majority Leader had reached an agreement to balance the budget for the current fiscal year, which has a deficit of $835 million (recalculated down from $920 million due to updated revenue projections). According to the Michigan Constitution, the budget must be balanced or the Governor is required to issue an executive order to bring the budget into balance. Executive Order No. 2003 - 23 was issued on December 10 and contains a series of cuts totaling $379.8 million, which is 63% of the budget deficit. In addition to the cuts, 24% of the deficit would be made up with new revenue and 13% through an accounting change. This order was approved by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees that same day. The executive order includes cuts of 5% to higher education, but promises that 3% of the cut would be restored to universities and community colleges if they did not increase tuition higher than the rate of inflation (which is 1.7%). This would essentially reduce the cut to higher education to 2%. Listed below are the effects the budget cuts will have on MFT&SRP represented Community Colleges and Universities:
Other cuts laid out in the agreement will need legislation to become effective. This includes a $63 million accounting shift with the Michigan Merit Award (a move that would not affect the awards themselves). This will be accomplished by paying half of this coming year's Merit Scholarships from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 budget and the other half is coming from the FY 2005 budget. The deal reached by the Governor and the Senate Majority Leader includes a six-month pause in the .1% rollback in the income tax until July in exchange for legislation to exempt businesses from having to pay Single Business Tax on health insurance they pay for their Michigan employees. The income tax pause will save the state $77 million, which would be used to reduce cuts to K-12 education, higher education, and local government. There would be a $100 per pupil cut to public schools (which is reduced from the original $196 per pupil). The equivalent per pupil for ISD is 3.5%. (See Attached Chart) Senate Bill 556 provides for School Aid Supplemental Funding for 2003 - 2004. It eliminates all funding for Career Preparation and Partnership for Adult Learning. It increases funding for the reimbursement of lost revenue due to Renaissance Zones and lapses current funding for Freedom to Learn Program (laptops for sixth graders). This bill has been amended by the House and currently sits in conference committee. Senate Bill 852, which freezes the .1 % rollback in the income tax for six months, passed the Senate on December 10. However, some House Republicans preferred to find additional cuts instead of postponing the income tax cut. The second part of the budget deal includes a five-bill "add-back" proposal. Under House Bills 5041 - 5042 and Senate Bills 672 - 274, 40% of the Single Business Tax charged to health care providers will be rolled back by Fiscal Yar 2006. A 20% rollout of the Single Business Tax on health care will take effect in Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 and will cost the budget $9 million in the first year. The next 20 percent will cost the state $22 million in FY 2006. Return to Top
K-12 FOUNDATION ALLOWANCES PRORATION
FISCAL YEAR 2003 - 2004
Return to Top Detroit School Board Reform House Bill 4508 would require that a special election be held in Detroit on March 16, 2004, to decide whether to return the school district to the form of governance in effect before March 26, 1999 (an 11-member elected school board) or to approve a form of governance proposed in the bill. The form of governance receiving the most votes would be implemented 30 days after the special election. The bill proposes the following:
Return to Top Election Consolidation Bills Clear Senate Panel Local school and community college elections will generally have to be coordinated with other general elections under a series of eight bills (HB 4820, HB 4822, HB 4823, HB 4824, HB 4825, HB 4826, HB 4827 and HB 4828) passed by the Senate on December 11. Under this legislation, all elections will be run by the county and local clerks and must take place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May, August and November. The fourth election could take place the last Tuesday in February. A fifth "floater" election can take place as long as a petition is signed 10 percent of the school district's voters from the last gubernatorial election with a 3,000-signature maximum. The floater cannot be 30 days before a regularly scheduled election or 35 days after an election. The new rules take effect Jan. 1, 2005. After the House gives their approval to a few changes made to some of these bills in the Senate, they will be presented to the Governor for her signature. Return to Top Eliminate Professional Development Requirements Senate Bill 366 (Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt) eliminates the requirement that the board of each school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy provide at least five days of professional development to its teachers every school year. The bill would also eliminate the requirement that, for the first three years of their classroom teaching, new teachers receive at least 15 days of professional development (not including the five described above), experience effective practices in university-linked professional development schools, and attend regional seminars conducted by master teachers and other mentors. Due to lobbying efforts, Senate Bill 366 was stuck in the House Education Committee. Frustrated by this, the committee chair referred it to the House Commerce Committee on December 9. It was immediately reported out of the House Commerce Committee and taken up on the floor of the House. It was called for a vote during a late-night session on December 9, but after 77 no votes were posted the Speaker ordered the board closed so no vote was recorded. It could still be taken up for a vote at any time. Return to Top
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