Politics & Government

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing says he'll veto the city council's budget bill. The council budget cuts spending by $50 million dollars more than the mayor wants.

 Detroit City Council voted 8-1 in favor of their plan. But Mayor Bing says adoption of his $3.1 billion dollar budget is crucial if Detroit is to avoid having Governor Rick Snyder step in and appoint an emergency manager to steer the city out of a $155 million dollar deficit.

There’s one week left for the legislature to meet the governor’s deadline for passing a state budget before the end of May.

Governor Rick Snyder says negotiations are still on pace to wrap up by May 31st.

“There are still lots of things, because it’s a very large document, that we need to get through," Snyder said. "But that's all part of the process and it's coming along in a positive way."

Snyder says it would be acceptable if the final deal isn’t ready until a few days the May 31st deadline:

“Passing it anytime in May or June is a big success over our history," said Snyder. "So I view it all as positive. I just like to hit deadlines that we talked about. So a practical matter it would be good to get it wrapped up because there’s a lot more work to be done. So the sooner the better. And we’re on a path to get that done."  

Snyder and Republican legislative leaders announced a deal last week that settled many of the larger budget issues including the size of funding cuts for education.

Democrats complain that they were left out of budget negotiations.

The state House has approved a measure that would eliminate the age restriction on children who hunt with an adult.

Currently, the state does not allow children under the age of 10 to hunt.

Republican state Representative Peter Petallia sponsored the bill. The measure would allow a child of any age to hunt, fish, or trap with an adult 21 years or older who has a license and has taken a hunter safety course.

"We spend too much time today behind TVs and computer screens and not enough time monitoring what youth are doing," said Petallia. "This gives us some an opportunity to get them out, spend some time with them and introduce them to our sport."

A handful of lawmakers voted against the bill. Some said children under 10 should not handle firearms. A few said hunting seasons with youth spook deer and other game before the regular season begins.

The bill now goes to the state Senate.

The Republican-led state Senate has started approving parts of the budget.

That includes a bill that cuts funding for public universities by 15 percent.

Universities could face bigger cuts if they don’t hold tuition increases at or below 7.1 percent.

Democratic state Senator Morris Hood says tuitions are already too high.

"Our profound disinvestment has led to tuition increase after tuition increase, making a degree even harder to attain," said Hood. "We’re passing this problem onto our already struggling constituents. Budgets are about priorities, and I think we are sending a clear message; the wrong message."

Republican leaders in the Legislature expect to wrap up work on the budget quickly and easily in comparison with recent years.

The budget bills will volley between the Senate and House over the next week as lawmakers try to wrap up work on the budget by next Tuesday.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville says he does not anticipate any big battles between the Republican-controlled chambers. But he says there may be a few hang-ups over schools funding.

"The K-12 budget is one of the more complicated budgets and made some adjustments during targets," said Richardville. "That one being also being one of the biggest budgets has the highest propensity to have some problems with it. But I think those problems will be mostly technical. I don’t anticipate any problems with getting the budgets passed."

Democrats are upset that additional funds for K-through-12 schools will not go directly to reduce cuts to per-pupil funding. Additional projected tax revenue will instead go toward districts that approve cost-saving measures, and make retirement payments.

There’s one week left for the legislature to meet the governor’s deadline for passing a state budget before the end of May.  Governor Rick Snyder says negotiations are still on pace to wrap up by May 31st .   

“There are still lots of things…because it’s a very large document…that we need to get through.  But that’s all part of the process….and its coming along in a positive way.”     

But if the final deal isn’t ready until a few days later, Snyder says that would be OK.