State Rep. Rodney Wakeman and the Michigan House today finished voting on a plan to reverse the governor’s cuts to various initiatives helping K-12 students, veterans services and autism resources statewide – ending a budget stalemate.

Through 147 line-item budget vetoes, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer cut nearly $1 billion from the state budget that began Oct. 1. The House votes advance the chamber’s efforts to restore much of this critical funding statewide, rejecting the governor’s numerous attempts to force her proposed 45-cent per gallon gas tax hike.

“The budget process should have never been dragged out this long, but I’m glad to see it finally coming to an end,” said Wakeman of Saginaw Township. “Saginaw County families are understandably upset with the governor’s budget cuts, which is why I have worked diligently throughout recent weeks to make sure we restore this important funding.”

Key components of the House-approved budget plan Wakeman cast his vote in support for include:

• The House again approved $35 million providing public charter schools with the same per-student funding increase planned for students in traditional K-12 public schools. Wakeman spearheaded the effort to provide Michigan’s 150,000 public charter school students with the resources they need to succeed in the classroom.
• The legislation reinstates $4 million to the County Veteran Service Fund to help connect veterans with the benefits they have earned through their military service. Local county veteran service departments and accredited service officers play an important role, especially in rural parts of Michigan, helping veterans and their families navigate the VA system when filing claims for certain benefits.
• The House votes recover over $1 million to fund the Autism Navigator program, a statewide database system that connects families to autism services offered in Michigan. The legislation also reestablishes funding for helping schools with training educators to identify and assist children with behavioral health concerns, and a pilot initiative for providers of Early On Michigan, an intervention service for infants and toddlers with developmental delays or disabilities.

“Bottom line, the hard-working taxpayers of Michigan rely on funding for these critical services,” Wakeman said. “We simply couldn’t let the governor’s budget cuts to K-12 students, our veterans and residents across the state stand. Through working together, we were able to reach an agreement that gets our state back to running in full gear.”

The budget plan will soon be headed to Gov. Whitmer for her signature.