State Rep. Brian BeGole today voted against state budget plans for the upcoming year that discard the priorities of people and communities throughout Shiawassee, Genesee and Saginaw counties and waste taxpayer dollars.

BeGole specifically took issue with a continued lack of dedicated funding that would go to school districts to obtain school resource officers. A fund that was set aside for districts to apply for grants that could help pay for school resource officers was also slashed by over 90 percent.

“School resource officers are professionals who keep students and school staff safe. They can respond quickly and effectively if incidents that threaten people’s safety occur,” said BeGole, of Antrim Township. “When you look at some of the other spending in this budget, including millions of dollars for zoos and hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide entertainment districts in Detroit with wi-fi, it’s ridiculous that funding for more dedicated school resource officers and an increased safety measure in our schools was cut.”

BeGole also took issues with other areas of the budget plan, including:

• No dedicated funding for local roads: Despite a budget plan that totals nearly $80 billion, there is no extra funding specifically set aside for local road agencies to repair crumbling roads. BeGole has consistently fought for ways to get money into the budget plan for local roads, including supporting an amendment when a budget plan passed the House last month that would have shifted millions of dollars away from an electric vehicle pilot program to local road funding for cities, villages and counties. The amendment was not incorporated into Democrat plans.

• Funding discrepancies for schools: Discrepancies in the School Aid budget disadvantage cyber school students, who receive lower per-pupil funding rates than those in traditional public schools. Cyber schools are crucial for students with unique needs, including those with mental health hurdles, physical limitations, and who have been victims of bullying. Additionally, students in nonpublic schools will be denied access to extracurricular and elective programs like FIRST robotics.

• Carveouts over common sense for growth: The budget plan hands out tax dollars to companies that promote certain agendas, buy in to green energy boondoggles and push unionization. BeGole said the state can’t tax and spend its way to prosperity, and that he supports less regulation and lower taxes to promote a better environment for job providers. Michigan ranks 39^th in personal incomes and 49^th in population growth.

• Limiting transparency in government: Reports emerged earlier this year that a Detroit businesswoman who was awarded a $20 million grant in last year’s state budget spent $4,500 in taxpayer funds on a coffeemaker and thousands more on first class flight tickets. Despite this embarrassing revelation, key accountability provisions for grant reviews were not included in the budget plan. The plan also increases contingency spending limits, giving unelected bureaucrats free rein to spend money without input from legislators or the people they represent.

The plans will soon head to the governor for her review.