2003 House Bill 4401 ↩

Senate Roll Call 264: Passed

The Senate version of the FY 2003-2004 K-12 school aid budget, with $12.58 billion in gross spending. The amount expected to be spent in the 2002-2003 school year is $12.545 billion. The budget increases the minimum per-pupil foundation grant to $6,700, an amount which had been reduced in the 2002-2003 school year due to revenue shortfalls. The Senate version of this budget generally follows the lines of the House version. It retains the $6,700 minimum foundation grant proposed by the governor. The Senate added more money for adult education, gifted and talented student programs, math and science centers, health education, and more. It retained a contract with Standard & Poor's to analyze and publish school performance data, but with less funding than the House version. The Senate added a provision giving home school and private school students access to services provided by the Michigan virtual university, without charge beyond what is charged to a public school student for the same services. (Note: Gov. Granholm’s proposed budget for this department is <a href="http://www.michiganvotes.org/2003-HB-4419">House Bill 4419 </a>.)Much more information on Michigan’s budget is available at <a href="http://www.mackinac.org/4964">Hot Topics: Michigan’s Budget Challenge</a> at www.mackinac.org/4964.