Gov. Snyder To Deliver Budget Plan Feb. 9

LANSING (AP) - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will present his budget proposal on Feb. 9, a spokesman for state budget director John Nixon told the Associated Press on Thursday.

Kurt Weiss said the Republican governor again will make the budget presentation himself, as he did last year, with Nixon aiding in the presentation. A location and other details still are being worked out.

The 2012-13 budget proposal covers the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 and will be closely watched to see if additional money is put into areas that were cut in the current budget. Critics say the governor's first budget took too much from public schools, universities, local governments and social services. The current budget also ended many tax breaks for individuals and specific businesses while lowering business taxes overall.

Snyder told the Associated Press last month that he thinks the state will be "finished with the cut model" for schools in his new budget proposal. He'd like to tie at least some K-12 funding in 2012-13 to student achievement, so school districts where students learn more get additional money. He plans to work with the Legislature to decide how best to measure what students are learning, he said.

The governor urged lawmakers last year to pass the budget quickly, and the GOP-controlled House and Senate complied by putting a budget in place by June 1, the earliest date in three decades. It's a model Snyder plans to say should be repeated this year.

He's also expected to call for ending the guarantee of retiree health care for any new teachers hired in coming years, instead giving them a contribution toward their defined contribution retirement plans to cover health care costs when they retire.

The Senate Fiscal Agency anticipates state revenues will increase less than 1 percent in the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.

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