14 | DECEMBER 12 • 2019
A
deal is drawing near
between the legislature
and Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer in Lansing to restore
some of the nearly $500
million Whitmer line-item
vetoed from the state’
s 2020
budget, including the $8 mil-
lion appropriated to “multi-
cultural integration funding.”
For the Jewish community,
the impact would be about $2
million that is usually allocat-
ed to Jewish Family Service,
JVS, Jewish Community
Center, JARC, Kadima and
Friendship Circle, according
to David Kurzmann, senior
director, community and
donor relations at Federation.
According to Bridge mag-
azine, the bills passed unan-
imously in the Senate and
nearly unanimously in the
House on Wednesday, Dec.
4. The bills need to be recon-
ciled between the chambers
and then sent to the governor
for her signature.
“While this does not restore
all of the governor’
s vetoes
and transfers, it is a good first
step in the right direction,”
said Senate Appropriations
Chair Jim Stamas. “It is my
hope this is the last time any
of these programs are caught
in the political crossfire.”
While Federation is
“encouraged by the progress
and optimistic about the
restoration of the funding,”
Kurzmann says, he won’
t relax
until the legislation is “over
the finish line and signed by
the governor.”
The legislature also moved
two bills that would affect
the budget process, accord-
ing to Bridge: one to require
the legislature to send the
budget to the governor by
July 1 each year; the other
to restrict the powers of the
State Administrative Board,
which Whitmer has said she
is reluctant to do.
“The governor is pleased
that the House and Senate
each took initial action on
a supplemental budget that
will restore critical funding
for public health, public
safety and public education,”
Whitmer’
s spokeswom-
an Tiffany Brown said in
a written statement. “This
is an important, bipartisan
step forward for our state
to ensure we are providing
essential services to Michigan
families, and I am hopeful we
can finalize it soon.”
The governor had also
diverted $1.5 million of the
Department of Civil Rights
budget allocated to three
private museums, including
$500,000 for the Holocaust
Memorial Center, to funding
for discrimination investi-
gations. According to Vicki
Levengood of the Department
of Civil Rights, that funding
has not been restored in these
bills.
According to Amber
McCann, spokeswoman for
Senate Majority Leader Mike
Shirkey, nearly $500 million
left over from Whitmer’
s cuts,
including funding for the
Pure Michigan campaign and
the state’
s roads, would likely
be re-appropriated early next
year.
JACKIE HEADAPOHL ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Jews in the D
Budget Breakthrough
Funding to multicultural service
agencies close to being restored.
24725 West 12 Mile – Ste. 110
Southfield, MI 48034
1-248-945-1111
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