By Elena Durnbaugh and Nick Smith
Posted: September 27, 2024 8:59 AM

Legislative Democrats moved to restore some of the funding they previously cut from K-12 grants for mental health and school safety on Wednesday with a supplemental spending plan that cleared both chambers.

Legislative Democrats in the 2024-25 fiscal year budget cut the line item for mental health and safety grants by roughly $300 million. Education leaders and Republicans hammered the funding reduction. Legislative Republicans have called for Democrats to restore the funding for three months.

HB 5503 moved through a conference committee in the early afternoon before the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed the bill. While it cleared the House 98-11 and the Senate 23-15, Republicans called it a "half measure."

Senate Republicans did not provide the support needed for immediate effect.

Action on the supplemental capped a blitz of activity during the only expected voting day in the House prior to the November election.

Additionally, the Legislature voted party line on HB 5803, which would make permanent the rate reduction in the retirement contribution cap for schools and eliminate the 3 percent contribution toward retirement health care benefits now required of Michigan Public School Employees' Retirement System employees hired before September 4, 2012.

Republicans staunchly oppose the move that was key to the K-12 budget for 2024-25.

The House did not replace all $300 million cut from the mental health and school safety line instead voting to restore $125 million. Defenders of the reduction have noted it was a relatively new spending line and labeled one-time, not something school districts should expect to continue. The counter-criticism is that the one-time label is semantics – the entire budget is one time.

The bill passed 99-11, with broad bipartisan support, though Republicans felt it didn't go far enough.

"We have taken every opportunity to support our local educators," House Speaker Joe Tate (D-Detroit) said during a press conference held on the supplemental Wednesday morning. "Today, we will pass a school aid supplemental to ensure our schools are strong and our kids are healthy. This is a meaningful change for Michigan students, and as we all know, actions speak louder than words and House Democrats are bringing transformational change to local schools and continuing to put people first."

Democrats emphasized the grants were labeled as one-time, but before the final version of the budget was unveiled in June, all three proposals – from the House, Senate and governor's office – included more than $300 million toward the program.

"Mental health funding that we are providing additional funding for today, the past few budgets have been funded for through federal funds, one-time federal funds, that were available through COVID-19. What we are seeing in this budget, for the first time, is to return to a more normal School Aid Budget," Rep. Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park) said. "With all those federal dollars gone, we made a lot of difficult decisions in terms of how we're going to allocate our dollars, because this fund has always been funded with one time money."

Moving the funds to a different line item provides schools with more flexibility.

"It might be having additional tutoring resources, giving the system flexibility to be able to use those dollars how they need to use them, is really critical here, because we know that is the gold standard for education in the state, we want to make sure that we are getting out of the way and just making sure we are investing dollars back into the classroom in order to make sure that they are getting to students directly," Weiss said.

The supplemental does not affect the $300 million in funds Democrats left on the books after passing the budget.

Republicans called the supplemental a "half-measure."

"In reality, they've cut it by $300 million, and even after the supplemental, it's really still going to be a major cut to education," Rep. Bryan Posthumus (R-Cannon Township) said. "Rather than doing a half-measure, just putting a little bit of money back, what we should be doing is fully funding back to previous levels."

Posthumus said that money could have come from appropriations for special interest projects in member districts.

Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Township) said the full funding could have been restored by the Democrats, but instead chose to pass a "half-baked bill."

"Budgets are a statement of priorities. For the majority, the health and safety cuts our students apparently need, doesn't make the cut," Nesbitt said. "Maybe if schools rename themselves after some Chinese communist corporation, maybe they'd receive the full funding."

That was a dig at the millions in taxpayer incentives Democrats have approved for Gotion to build a facility in the Big Rapids area.

Republicans then blocked immediate effect on the bill, which sparked a heated floor debate and rebukes from both sides of the aisle.

Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Brownstown Township) laid into Republicans, pointing to months of GOP attacks over the amount of spending included in the 2024-25 budget.

"That's why we just sent $125 million back to the classroom, but then Republicans, just now, the overwhelming majority of them, voted to pause this money from getting to our classrooms right away," Camilleri said. "What kind of leadership does that show our kids, our teachers, our counselors, our school resource officers … What is wrong with you?"

Denial of immediate effect likely means the funding won't be available to districts until late March of next year.

Sen. John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs) countered that he was outraged by the process in putting forward the bill, during which he alleged there being no outreach to Republicans. He also accused Democrats of seeking to score political points with the bill.

"This is nothing but pure politics," Damoose said. "Pure political gamesmanship."

Sen. Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) pointed out that House Republicans allowed immediate effect to be granted, and the House vote was 98-11. Singh said debates over the dollar amount or policy is one thing but to withhold immediate effect was ridiculous.

"If you're going to withhold money from the schools, don't lecture us," Singh said.

The minority party in the House has no ability to stop the majority from granting bills immediate effect.

The Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools in a statement questioned the lack of nonpublic schools in being provided school safety funding and called on that to be addressed before it is signed by the governor.

"All parents deserve the peace of mind in knowing their children are in safe learning environments and have the resources they need to thrive in their learning setting," MANS Executive Director Brian Broderick said. "It is beyond comprehension why some Michigan students' safety would be potentially compromised just by virtue of the name on their school building."

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael Rice in a statement called passage of HB 5503 a step in the right direction for school safety and mental health. He also questioned the inability to grant immediate effect.

"For the good of children, I hope that the Senate will reconsider and make the funds available to schools sooner," Rice said. "The additional $125 million in funding that's been approved today would greatly benefit our students and local schools."

K-12 Alliance of Michigan President Al Latosz in a statement thanked the bill sponsors of HB 5503 and HB 5803 for their leadership.

"Today's actions will have both a short and long-term positive impact on public education funding and directly benefit the work educators are doing in classrooms across Michigan," Latosz said.

Other groups also issued statements following the votes on HB 5803.

A coalition of several education and school administrator organizations in a statement said it put the funding shift from MPSERS payments directly to schools and districts permanently on the path to reality.

"With the House's passage of HB 5803, lawmakers have acknowledged the many years of financial sacrifices made by Michigan's public schools and their employees to fully address the MPSERS OPEB debt," the coalition said. "By reducing the MPSERS payroll rate, this legislation will lift a considerable financial strain on schools and give a direct boost to educator's take-home pay by eliminating the 3% employee healthcare contribution."

Michigan Education Association President and CEO Chandra Madafferi also thanked lawmakers for their action.

"The changes made in this legislation will allow school districts to invest more resources directly into helping students learn and give them a better opportunity for success," Madafferi said. "We look forward to this bill being signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer."

Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency Superintendent Daveda Colbert praised the bill sponsors.

"The resources provided within each of these bills will allow for more funding to be directed where it is needed most: in the classroom and to ensure the health and safety of our students and staff," Colbert said.