LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer further shaped the new state budget Tuesday, taking a rare step to shift $625 million within departments while outlining some of her major vetoes, including funding for the Pure Michigan tourism campaign and a $240 per-student increase in aid to hundreds of charter schools.
The Democrat signed the $59 billion spending plan Monday while issuing 147 line-item vetoes totaling $947 million to the Republican-passed proposal. She declared 72 provisions unenforceable.
“I do not relish using these powers. But they were absolutely necessary because the budgets they sent were fatally flawed,” Whitmer said after using a state board to transfer funds between individual agencies. The maneuver was last used in 1991.
The nearly $1 billion in stripped funding could ultimately still be included in the budget pending negotiations that Whitmer wants to restart on Thursday.
“Everyone in the Legislature should know that a line-item veto is not the death knell for any individual item, if people get back to the table and negotiate,” she said.
Yesterday, I line-item vetoed 147 items from the budgets sent to me by the legislature.
— Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) October 1, 2019
They. Were. A. Mess.
Here’s the thing – I don’t relish using these abilities, but I'm not afraid to use every tool in my toolbox to protect our public safety, health care, and cyber security. pic.twitter.com/KMp8b7MUAk
View the entire list of vetoes below:
2020 statewide veto list by WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit on Scribd
