By Laura Weber
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-890039.mp3
LANSING, MI – A state Senate subcommittee has approved an early draft of a school funding plan for the coming fiscal year. Lawmakers are scrambling to get the budget done before the summer.
Audio:
The Senate panel approved a $118 cut in per-pupil funding. And the K-12 budget proposal also draws money from the state's general fund to fill a deficit. The chairman of the Senate subcommittee says drawing from the general fund assumes Michigan will receive about half a billion dollars from the federal government.
But Democratic state Representative Terry Brown says he is skeptical of the Senate plan.
"I just think it's important that we have an honest budget. Now, I'm not saying what the Senate put out wasn't honest, but there is a chance that the cuts will be deeper than what the Senate put out."
Brown chairs the House schools budget subcommittee. He says he hopes to have a House proposal for the schools budget within the next few weeks.