LANSING — Today, the House passed the General Omnibus and School Omnibus budgets for FY 2018-2019. In response, state Rep. Jon Hoadley (D-Kalamazoo) issued the following statement on his votes:
“I voted in support of the General Omnibus Budget because it contains key provisions to study long-term care in Michigan. Millions of Michiganders — like millions of Americans — find themselves sandwiched between taking care of their parents and their children at the same time. We’re spending upwards of $3 billion a year in Michigan on long-term care and still not taking care of the problem. Working with advocates on both sides of the aisle, I’m proud of the key provisions we were able to include to begin a more comprehensive study of the changing needs of long-term care in our state.
“That being said, these budgets were not all good. I voted against the School Omnibus Budget because it places many neighborhood schools at risk, thanks to a provision that could reactively change the improvement plans already agreed to by struggling schools placing them in a position where they will be either shut down or required to fire up to a quarter of their staff. Additionally, the budget spends dollars meant for our schools on non-school items, and provides cyber schools with similar dollars to our brick and mortar public schools even though cyber schools do not have similar costs. This budget comes up short for students, teachers, and parents who want a Michigan that invests in public education. That is why I voted no.”