Reaction To Governor's Budget Plan
SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder unveiled a $45 billion cost-cutting budget on Thursday.
As part of the budget, Snyder wants to cut funding for Michigan's 15 public universities by more than 20 percent unless they agree to keep tuition increases around 7 percent.
In response, local college students tell WWJ's City Beat Reporter Vickie Thomas that they're worried about how the governor's proposed budget will effect their plans to get a degree.
Steve Wiseman of Madison Heights is a junior at Oakland University, where he's already seen his tuition rise at least twice. He says when that happens, it's really a double-edged sword.
"If tuition keeps increasing, that's less money I have to spend and it's less money to help fuel the economy," Wiseman said. "If my tuition is less, I'm more likely to go out and buy things or pay down credit, which is probably gonna be another problem sooner or later. I mean, we're gonna have all these students coming out with massive amounts of debt."
- Reaction from Detroit Mayor Dave Bing
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing says the Snyder budget threatens the concrete but fragile fiscal progress made by the city of Detroit over the last 20 months. He goes on to say the proposed slash in revenue sharing - he feels is directly at large municipalities like Detroit.
The first-year Republican governor proposed spending cuts for schools, universities and local governments and ending many personal tax breaks. The budget also would eliminate before - and after - school programs, cut hundreds of state jobs and ask public employees for concessions.
Bing says the Brownfield and Historic preservation tax credits helped make major investments like the Book Cadillac, the Taubman Center and Fort Shelby a reality. Eliminating the tax credits, Bing says, is bad business for Detroit.
The major says the city is committed to working with Gov. Snyder and state lawmakers to support a budget sensitive to Lansing's fiscal challenges but that does not pass them off onto cities like Detroit.
To read more on the budget plan, click on here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
