LANSING – It took about half a dozen votes, but the Michigan Legislature has finally agreed to a capital outlay budget that includes federal pass through dollars for state airport projects without 39 university and community college construction projects tagged on as the House concurred in Senate changes to HB 5221 on Tuesday and sent it onto the governor for signature.
While the bill did not include the school projects, which Democrats adamantly pushed for months, there appears to be an understanding that lawmakers will continue to negotiate on that issue. The House in fact sent another capital outlay bill, SB 511 , into conference where school projects would be included should all sides come to an agreement.
Concerns have been growing over the past weeks that without action on the airport projects, the money would be lost and those airports unable to expand their infrastructure. What the deadline was for ensuring those dollars stayed in Michigan was a matter of who answered the question.
The Granholm administration said on Monday the federal government had said the state needed to act by June 20 to encumber the funds but they wouldn’t technically be lost for some time because they hadn’t been budgeted for other projects in other states.
“While I am pleased that we were able to pass the measure to secure the very important federal funding for our airports, I can’t help but feel there was too much left on the House floor,” said Rep. Michael Sak (D-Grand Rapids). “The additional construction projects would help create thousands of jobs to get working families back on their feet, as well as create the next generation of first-class workers for our state. Hopefully, we can work together to quickly negotiate a plan that will help move our state forward.”
Unanimous passage of HB 5221, which occurred without debate, signaled the end to this round of wrangling over capital outlay spending, which hasn’t been approved for some years because of the state’s fiscal crisis.
“Putting projects that will create jobs above partisan differences was the right thing to do. These funds will get more people to work this summer and help us attract investment to our communities. Now we must turn our attention to resolving the remaining issues with the funding for our community colleges and universities so that those important projects can move forward as well,” Senate Minority Leader Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek) said in a statement.
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