LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan lawmakers are moving to pass a $62 billion spending plan about a week before the deadline to enact the next state budget.
Bills were made public Wednesday and are expected to win final legislative approval later in the day before going to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. This year's budget process has been delayed due to uncertainty over tax revenues amid the coronavirus pandemic, and legislators are skipping the usual monthslong process of holding committee hearings and passing competing House and Senate plans.
Thanks to a federal bailout, state spending will generally stay flat in the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. Some cuts are planned, too. A prison site in the Detroit area will close, for instance, as the state's inmate population continues to decline.
The K-12 budget will see a 1% funding boost. All districts will receive on average $65 more per student, with some with rising enrollment getting a bigger boost.
