Michigan Federation of Teachers & School Related Personnel
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Michigan Federation of Teachers & School Related Personnel
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Capitol Report Archives Go to current Capitol Report for links to complete archive. October, 2004 September, 2004 August, 2004 July, 2004 June, 2004 May, 2004 April, 2004 March, 2004 February, 2004 January, 2004 2003-04 Voting Records 2003 2002 2001 2000 |
State's Fiscal Year '04 May Finish with a Deficit Lame-Duck Session Can Be Dangerous MEAP Replacement Bills Pass Senate Autumn Testing for Elementary and Middle School MEAP ISD II Package Going to Governor Lobby Day 2005
Links to current Legislative Action Alerts
may be found on the Legislative Hotline page of this website.  Return to Top State's Fiscal Year '04 May Finish with a Deficit State officials are being told that lower than anticipated revenues for September and October could mean Michigan's 2003-04 fiscal year could finish with a deficit of as much as $140 million in the general and school aid funds. The final figures will not be available until December, when the final accruals and adjustments are made. Since the potential deficit covers both the general fund and the school aid fund, officials are hoping October will show more money collected through the state education property tax. The tax was collected in August, but payments come in late through the year, and any additional funds could have a big impact on the budget's final numbers. The state also needs to see how large budget lapses could be from the various departments. Those lapses would offset any potential deficit. But officials also stressed the state's options for correcting the deficit would be extremely limited, since there are no 2003-04 programs that could be cut or fees raised and put toward the fiscal year. The 2004-05 budget was adopted assuming a zero balance from the previous year, and there is nothing in the Budget Stabilization Fund the state can borrow against. It is possible some funds could be borrowed against, but government accounting rules make that more difficult. The constitution requires a balanced budget, but if a deficit occurs the state is required to make eliminating that deficit it's first priority of the next fiscal year. The state closes the books on the 2004 fiscal year in late December, at which time the actual fiscal year revenues are determined and any shortfall to be carried forward is identified. With Michigan lawmakers facing $1 billion in red ink for 2006, the question quickly turns to how should lawmakers and the governor address the issue. According to Tom Clay of the Citizens' Research Council and other fiscal experts, the budget problem is structural and cannot be overcome with one-time or quick fixes. Even after the $1 billion deficit is addressed, Clay asserts that in each of the three years following FY 2006 there will be budget gaps of $300 million in the state's general fund. State Treasurer Jay Rising announced that a special revenue estimating conference has been scheduled for December 3. The conference will be designed to take an early look at the 2005 fiscal year revenues and try to reach a consensus on revenues that can be used to develop budget solutions. Return to Top Lame-Duck Session Can Be Dangerous The clock is ticking on the 92nd Legislature with the House and Senate scheduled to hold session only six more days this year. Any bills that do not pass both houses and are signed into law before the end of the year die. This means they would have to be reintroduced next year and again work their way through the legislature. ŇLame-duckÓ session can be very dangerous. Legislators are eager to take their last shot at getting their favorite pieces of legislation passed because some term-limited legislators are leaving office with nothing to lose. Any of the 500+ education-related bills that are currently languishing in either house could be taken up at a moments notice. If these items begin to move, we will have to act fast with little time to communicate with our members. The only way to effectively communicate with our members and request action quickly is by e-mail. The MFT&SRP Activist List is available to all members by going to our web page at http://www.mftsrp.org/getactive.html and signing up for the Activist List. Please let fellow members know about the Activist List and encourage them to sign up. Return to Top MEAP Replacement Bills Pass Senate Under a five-bill package approved by the state Senate, eleventh-graders would no longer take the MEAP test, but instead be tested with a version of a college entrance exam. The bills do not specify a replacement test, but could be a combination of the ACT and an ACT work-keys exam, and a social studies component. This test would have to approved by the U.S. Department of Education. The proposed test would be called the Michigan Merit Exam and all 11th-graders would start taking the test in the 2006-07 school year, with a sample group possibly taking it next year. Students would not pay for the test. The new test would also be used to determine eligibility for the Michigan Merit Award. The legislation does not affect elementary and middle school students who take the MEAP. The bills in this package are SB 1153 (Kuipers, R-Holland), SB 1154 (Switalski, D-Roseville), SB 1155 (Jelinek, R-Three Oaks), SB 1156 (Van Woerkom, R-Muskegon), and SB 1157 (Thomas, D- Detroit) All five bills in this package are tie-barred together. These bills now go to the House Education Committee for action after the Thanksgiving break. Return to Top Autumn Testing for Elementary and Middle School MEAP The State Board of Education has approved moving the science tests given in the fifth and eighth grades and social studies tests given the sixth and ninth grades from winter to autumn, beginning in the 2005-2006 school year. This follows the previous approval by the State Board of Education to move the math and English language arts (ELA) test from the winter to the autumn, to test the previous school yearŐs material and provide educators more timely feedback on the educational needs of their students in those subject areas. The federal No Child Left Behind Act will require math and ELA to be given in grades 3-8 beginning in the 2005 - 2006 school year. At the recommendation of the Advisory Committee to the Office of Educational Assessment and Accountability (OEAA), the Board approved moving the social studies test from the eighth to the ninth grade so eighth graders would not have MEAP tests in four subjects in one year (math, ELA, science, and social studies). Return to Top ISD II Package Going to Governor The Senate amended and passed the six-bill ISD II Accountability Package. The House concurred with these changes and sent them on to the Governor for her signature. These bills have been greatly improved since their introduction. These bills now contain the following: HB 5457 (Ken Bradstreet, R-Gaylord), requires the Department of Treasury to randomly audit 5 ISDs every two years with the results of those audits posted on the Department of EducationŐs web site. If the Treasurer finds some problems during the audit, the office has 90 days to pass the matter to the Attorney General. HB 5475 (Brian Palmer, R-Bruce Township), requires ISDs beginning July 1, 2006 to post contracts, salaries of top 3% of employees, and other information on their website. The Department of Education will give the ISDs a pre-approved template to use. HB 5627 (Ruth Johnson, R-Holly), is a companion bill to HB 5457 that requires ISDs need to give the DOE their web addresses. HB 5839 (Ruth Johnson, R-Holly), clarifies how general education and special education bond money can be properly spent and forces ISDs that do not follow these rules to pay back the misspent money. It also requires no new millage or renewal of millage be longer than 20 years in duration. HB 5850 and HB 5851 (Ruth Johnson, R-Holly), provides misdemeanor penalties for knowingly or intentionally violating laws relating to prohibited expenses or competitive bid requirements. It also provides felony penalties for knowingly or intentionally misusing the bond proceeds. HB 5921 (Ruth Johnson, R-Holly)
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