{"id":35306,"date":"2013-06-13T20:52:27","date_gmt":"2013-06-14T00:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/miserybay.usanethosting.com\/wordpress\/?p=35306"},"modified":"2013-06-13T20:52:27","modified_gmt":"2013-06-14T00:52:27","slug":"leonard-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/leonard-10\/","title":{"rendered":"Capitol Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

by State Rep. Tom Leonard
\nIn May I gave an update on the 2013-2014 fiscal year budget after it passed the Michigan House of Representatives. The budget was then sent to conference committee so differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget could be reconciled. For the third year in a row, the Legislature has passed a balanced budget more than four months ahead of schedule, making it the “new normal” for Michigan and helping us continue on the path of being the comeback state.
\nDuring this process, it was discovered that a surplus existed, which was reflected in the final budget. I am proud to say that additional investments were made to education, infrastructure, public safety and local governments that give our taxpayers the greatest return on their money, while also keeping the overall budget increase less than the rate of inflation.
\nEducation will see a $400 million boost, bringing total funding to over $15 billion. Schools with the lowest foundation allowances will receive greater increases than those on the higher end, which will positively impact every school district in Clinton and Gratiot counties. On top of that, $65 million will also be added to early childhood development in order to provide more opportunities for our young children.
\nInfrastructure, local governments, and public safety were also made a top priority. An extra $351 million will be allocated to Michigan’s crumbling roads, without raising taxes. While conversations will continue regarding long-term solutions for road funding, this is a positive investment for Michigan.
\nConstitutional Revenue Sharing and the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP), which funds our local and county governments, will increase 2.9 percent and 4.7 percent respectively, putting more money in the hands of local governments as opposed to keeping it in Lansing. Also, 107 new state troopers will be hired, impacting public safety for years to come.
\nInvestments in areas for our senior citizens and children were also made, including $500,000 allocated for senior nutrition and $11.6 million added to the Healthy Kids Dental Program, which will allow three more counties to utilize the program.
\nMichigan’s rainy day fund will also see a $75 million increase, bringing the total to nearly $600 million, up from only $2 million in early 2011. This additional investment has shown the rest of the world that Michigan is once again on the track to sound fiscal footing, which has led to an improved bond rating for our state.
\nEvery dollar the state spends comes from the pockets of Michigan’s hard-working families. It is of utmost importance that the Legislature spends those funds in the most efficient way possible to give taxpayers the best return on their money. This balanced budget increases spending by less than one quarter of the rate of inflation, while also making our children, infrastructure and public safety a top priority. Anyone interested in reviewing this budget can find copies of House Bills 4228 and 4328 at www.legislature.mi.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by State Rep. Tom Leonard<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35306\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}