House GOP K-12 Defectors Identified?

The House of Representatives just attempted to approve the K-12 School Aid Fund budget with a $218 per-pupil cut. One of the most contentious of the budgets in the Dillon/Bishop "cuts only" plan, which was discussed on this page earlier today and last week. As noted in the post this morning, the Michigan Education Association was attempting to influence the votes of several GOP members.

An attempt to pass this budget failed an hour ago, getting only what the Gongwer newsletter characterizes as "just over 30 votes" (out of 56 needed.) Not wanting to put the votes on the record, the leadership in the House cleared the voting board without recording the roll call votes.

What follows is second-hand information, but I have learned from a well-placed source — a Michigan Capitol Confidential reader who is watching the vote in the House — that SOME of the alleged GOP "no" votes or those who were not voting were as follows:

Kevin Green, R-Wyoming

Bill Caul, R-Mt. Pleasant

Darwin Booher, R-Evart

Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawton

Kim Meltzer, R-Clinton Twp

Tim Moore, R-Farwell

John Walsh, R-Livonia

Sharon Tyler, R-Niles

Paul Scott, R-Grand Blanc

Tom Pearce, R-Rockford

Richard Ball, R-Laingsberg

Tory Rocca, R-Sterling Heights.

With the exceptions of Booher, Meltzer and Caul, every one of these names was on either the list of MEA "targets" noted by MIRS yesterday and/or was an MEA "recommended" candidate from the last election cycle, as reported in Michigan Capitol Confidential's November/Decemeber 2008 edition.

Two more bits of news that have been passed along:

1. Another of the names on the MIRS list of MEA targets yesterday was Jim Marleau, R-Lake Orion. He has reportedly voted NO already — in a recorded roll call vote that we will be able to confirm later — on the Department of Community Health "cuts" budget.

2. MIRS also quotes a GOP source who says that the reason for Republican defectors in the House is they are all seeking Senate seats next year and want the union's endorsement.

The deadline for the end of the fiscal year is less than seven hours away.

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