LANSING, MI — The Michigan Senate on Tuesday passed a $53 billion budget proposal for next fiscal year that includes funding for sexual assault prevention programs on college campuses but does not include fee increases recommended by Gov. Rick Snyder.
The fee increases would have mainly impacted the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Natural Resources, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Dave Hildenbrand, R-Lowell said.
He wants to see what happens with legislation that would enact companion statutory changes. “The budget doesn’t reflect any of those increases at this point. I want to wait until we have the debate on those individual bills,” Hildenbrand said.
The Senate rolled its Fiscal Year 2016 departmental budgets into a $38 billion omnibus bill, Senate Bill 133. It passed 23 to 15. The Senate also passed its education budget, and the body’s total proposed spend is $53 billion.