Michigan House rejects budget cuts

BYLINE: Charlie Cain and Mark Hornbeck

LANSING - The state's growing budget crisis did not come any closer to resolution today when the Democratic-controlled House voted to reject a Senate plan to cut $600 million from the current year's budget.

The House voted 60-49 against the cuts, which included a $40 million cut in revenue sharing to local governments, $65 million in reductions to community health programs that addressed such conditions as cancer, smoking and diabetes prevention. Money for bus transportation, Gov. Jennifer Granholm's 21st Century Jobs Fund and arts and cultural grants also would have been slashed.

Democrats argued that the cuts hit many of the state's most vulnerable citizens and gut economic development programs at a time when Michigan most needs them.

Republicans say the state can balance its books without a tax increase that would hamper efforts to attract new business and hurt families who can't afford paying more taxes in a down economy. They rejected Granholm's plan to put a 2-percent tax on most services.

"We're not going to take (Republicans') irresponsible course of destroying what's left of the safety net," said Rep. George Cushingberry Jr., the Detroit Democrat who chairs the House Appropriations Committee.

Granholm has warned lawmakers that unless they raise taxes or resolve the budget deficit some other way, she will be forced to cut school aid by up to $125 per student.