Governor Snyder has made it official, enacting the next fiscal year’s budget months before the current one expires. He signed the spending plan this afternoon in Lansing. State Senator Tonya Schuitmaker of Lawton is proud of what lawmakers and the governor’s office have accomplished.
“I think it’s a great budget, it balances the needs,” says state Senator Tonya Schuitmaker. The Lawton Republican says it puts nearly $1 billion into the roads along with $16 billion in education funding. However, former state Representative Sean McCann of Kalamazoo, who is running for the state Senate, says it’s simply an election year budget aimed at trying to get people to forget the last seven years of the Snyder administration.
“Forget about the fact that we’ve only barely kept up with inflation when it comes to funding public schools, and the roads speak for themselves,” McCann said. On education funding, Republican Representative Dave Pagel of Berrien County says the state isn’t doing enough. Pagel told us last week while lawmakers have put more money into the education system, the investments are not keeping pace with inflation and schools need more cash.
