Gov. Rick Snyder Approves Budget Bills for Fiscal Year 2013

LANSING — Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation this week enacting Michigan’s fiscal year 2013 budget. This is the second year in a row that the governor and the Michigan Legislature have delivered a balanced budget in advance of the fall deadline.

“This balanced, thoughtful and timely budget ensures that taxpayers get value for their money,” Snyder said. “It continues the sound financial principles we adopted last year that now allow us to make strategic investments in our state’s future. We’ll be a stronger Michigan because of it. Let’s build on this achievement by moving forward with relentless positive action so that Michigan becomes a national model of job creation, innovation and prosperity.”

Snyder commended Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, House Speaker Jase Bolger, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Roger Kahn and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Chuck Moss for their leadership in delivering a strategic, fiscally responsible budget.

“The Legislature and governor have again finished the budget well ahead of the deadline, balancing difficult choices with an eye to the future,” Richardville, R-District 17, said. “It is in sharp contrast with the past decade and that effort is beginning to pay off. We have paid down debts and liabilities and still found ways to support priorities like education. Our work is not done and I look forward to continuing our path of making Michigan a better place to live."

Specific highlights of the 2013 budget include:

• A total budget of $49 billion in state and federal revenue sources, with more than 75 percent devoted to education and health and human services.
• A deposit of $140 million to the Budget Stabilization Fund (rainy day fund) that brings the fund balance to $504.9 million, the largest fund balance in more than 10 years.
• Personal income tax relief that reduces the income tax rate from 4.35 percent to 4.25 percent effective Oct. 1, ahead of the originally scheduled date of Jan. 1, 2013. The personal exemption will increase from $3,700 per person to $3,950 per person on Oct.1.
• Support for cities, villages, townships, and counties with nearly $1.1 billion through revenue sharing payments and local government incentive programs.
• An increase in the rate paid to foster parents and adoptive parents by $3 per day to pay for basic living expenses for foster and adopted children.
• Added funding for child welfare staffing to provide an additional 577 full-time employees for child welfare services within the Department of Human Services.
• $59.9 million to support low-income home heating assistance to ensure heat for families and individuals in need during the winter months.
• A 3 percent increase in funding for community colleges and universities with performance metrics that keep college tuition down.
• An overall increase of $200.5 million in K-12 education funding with performance funding and best practices included.
• Equity payments totaling $80 million for school districts with the lowest foundation allowances, raising the foundation floor from $6,846 per pupil to $6,966 per pupil and further closing the gap between the lowest and highest foundation allowance districts. 
• An investment of $25 million to address deterioration and maintenance issues in state-owned and managed buildings, addressing the need now rather than creating future liability through bonding.

“This is the second year of what I call an AAA budget,” added state budget director John Nixon. “We’ve got our budget in balance, we are solving our long-term liabilities and we are saving for the future. By making strategic investments and keeping fiscal responsibility at the forefront of what we do, we have left the dark days of budget deficits behind. We’ve come a very long way in less than two years.”

The omnibus budget bill now is Public Act 200 of 2012 and the education budget is P.A. 201 of 2012.