LANSING — Sen. Erika Geiss (D–Taylor) today issued the following statement after the Michigan Legislature passed various Fiscal Year 2020 budgets:
“Michigan is facing tremendous challenges. Unfortunately, the budgets passed today showed up 202 days late and countless dollars short of meeting the demands and needs of Michigan citizens.
“Every Michigan resident deserves safe roads, a good education and accessible health care. Instead, the higher education and community college budgets fall short of the funding we need to make such pursuits affordable and accessible. Students in my district should not have to take out student loans that follow them for decades and impede, what should be, an otherwise strong start at success.
“The Department of Health and Human Services budget cuts $15 million in funding for programs that fund medical services and juvenile justice facility maintenance. It also cuts $15 million from getting our state to comply with the new Lead and Copper Rule. These lack of investments are additional missed opportunities for our children and our communities.
“And while I’m happy the transportation budget included my recommendation of $22.7 million for the Rail Grade Separation Project, frankly, the rest of the budget falls woefully short of being truly holistic funding. Without a long-term, sustainable fix to the roads, I could not support this budget.”
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