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State legislature set to approve K-12 budget

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Republican-led Michigan Legislature was poised Thursday to give final approval to a K-12 budget that would boost base per-student funding for most schools by $240, or 3%.

The House passed the spending bill 91-18, with most Democrats joining all Republicans to support it. The measure will move to Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer once the Senate concurs later in the day.

The minimum per-pupil grant, which many districts and charter schools receive, would increase from $7,871 to $8,111. Districts at the higher end would get $8,529, or $120 more than the current $8,409 allotment — a 1.4% bump.

The school aid budget would spend $387 million more in state money, about $136 million less than what Whitmer proposed. Republican House Speaker Lee Chatfield and Democratic House Minority Leader Christine Greig did cut a deal to spend an additional $30 million to reimburse districts for their special education costs, above what had been unveiled by GOP lawmakers last week. Under another change, legislators agreed not to require the closure or reconstitution of a chronically underperforming school that does not improve as part of a “partnership” with the state.

“For me, this is a step in the right direction,” said Rep. Kristy Pagan, a Canton Democrat who voted to advance the legislation out of a House-Senate conference committee but opposed it on the floor less than two hours later.

The panel’s other Democrat, Sen. Rosemary Bayer of Beverly Hills, voted against it.

“This budget still does not meet the fundamental required changes that we need to make as we move forward,” she said.

Talks between Whitmer and Republican leaders broke down last week, even after the sides agreed to table discussions over a long-term road-funding plan. The Legislature is planning to send spending measures to her desk, while she is leaving open the possibility of vetoing parts of the budget.

The deadline to enact the budget is Sept. 30. Later Thursday, GOP-controlled conference committees are scheduled to unveil more spending bills covering everything from transportation, prisons, the attorney general’s office and the secretary of state’s office.

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