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
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