By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-897120.mp3
LANSING, MI –
The state House is expected to vote this week on Democratic plans to find savings in the operations of the Legislature. But Republicans are skeptical of a proposal to merge House and Senate business offices and fiscal agencies.
AUDIO:
Republicans in both the Senate and House say they're willing to look at any proposal that cuts costs. But they are hesitant about a proposal to merge the House and Senate fiscal agencies.
GOP state Representative Jase Bolger says the fiscal agencies are non-partisan groups that save the state money by crunching numbers. He says creating one agency might not be a good answer to save money.
"So there's questions and there's concerns on how do you do that," he says. "Who's going to oversee that? How do you make sure that the politics is removed from the analysis that we need?"
Bolger says Democratic leaders in the House should push more sweeping reforms right now, rather than this proposal which would save just a few million dollars.