April 26, 2013, MichiganVotes.org Weekly Roll Call

Senate Bill 182, Senate K-12 school aid budget: Passed 21 to 15 in the Senate
The Senate version of the K-12 school aid budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct 1, 2013. It would appropriate $13.225 billion for K-12 public schools, compared to $12.944 billion this year.

Senate Bill 193, Senate higher education budget: Passed 21 to 15 in the Senate
The Senate version of the higher education budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2013. This would appropriate $1.430 billion in gross spending, compared to $1.399 billion this year.

Senate Bill 199, Senate community colleges budget: Passed 21 to 15 in the Senate
The Senate version of the community colleges budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2013. This would appropriate $335.0 million in gross spending, compared to $294.1 million this year.

House Bill 4093, Make permanent a federally-imposed drunk driving standard: Passed 36 to 0 in the Senate
To make permanent the 2003 decrease in the drunk driving intoxication threshold (from .10 to .08 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood) that was mandated by the federal government as a condition of federal road funding

Senate Joint Resolution S, Place right to fish, hunt and trap in Constitution: Passed 25 to 11 in the Senate
To place before voters in the next general election a constitutional amendment to establish that the people have the right to fish, hunt and trap, and to harvest game and fish. The measure fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to place an amendment on the ballot.

Senate Bill 288, Give NRC duty of designating huntable game species: Passed 25 to 11 in the Senate
To give the state Natural Resources Commission (in addition to the Legislature) the power to designate a species as a huntable game species. Also, to allow members of the military to obtain hunting and fishing licenses for free. The bill was changed on the floor to prohibit the commission from designating mourning doves as a game species, and to remove a modest appropriation intended to make it "referendum-proof."

Senate Bill 182, Prohibit funding higher education with "School Aid Fund" money: Failed 18 to 18 in the Senate
To not use tax revenues earmarked to the state School Aid Fund in the university and community college budgets, but instead use non-earmarked (general fund) revenue. Although the state constitution explicitly authorizes using SAF money for higher education, the public school establishment contends that the 1994 Proposal A initiative earmarking a sales tax increase to the SAF means it can only be used for K-12 schools. The same amendment failed in the House on a voice vote.

House Bill 4328, House budget for all non-education spending: Passed 59 to 51 in the House
The House version of the non-education portion of the state government budget for the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1, 2013. This would appropriate $33.918 billion, compared to $34.018 billion this fiscal year. Of this, $15.802 billion comes from state tax, fee and other revenue, compared to $16.149 billion the previous year. The rest of this budget is federal money ($18.116 billion, compared to $17.869 billion the previous year).
The House budget does not include spending requested by the Governor from $1.2 billion in higher transportation taxes he has proposed, or $1.5 billion from the federal health care law’s expansion of Medicaid (which would supplant state money with federal in the short term but require more from Michigan taxpayers in future years).

House Bill 4228, House education budget: Passed 58 to 52 in the House
The House version of the K-12 school aid, community college and university budgets for the fiscal year that begins Oct 1, 2013. This bill would appropriate $13.235 billion for K-12 public schools, compared to $12.944 billion this year. It also appropriates $1.430 billion for state universities, compared to $1.399 billion this year. Community colleges would get $334 million, vs. $294 million this year.

SOURCE: MichiganVotes.org, a free, non-partisan website created by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, providing concise, non-partisan, plain-English descriptions of every bill and vote in the Michigan House and Senate. Please visit https://www.michiganvotes.org.

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