State Rep. Mike Mueller, of Linden, joined the Michigan Legislature on Tuesday in the final passage of a plan to restore budget funding vetoed by the governor earlier this year.

The plan approved today restores the most critical of those vetoed funds, including Mueller’s measure to restore essential funding for the secondary road patrol programs in Genesee and Oakland counties and throughout all of Michigan, ensuring the streets are safe and local sheriff’s offices aren’t forced to lay off deputies.

“As a former sheriff’s deputy, I know that rural communities like ours shouldn’t be without secondary road patrol,” said Mueller, a retired sheriff’s deputy. “The safety of our communities should be among our highest state budget priorities.”

The plan also includes:

• $1 million for the Autism Navigator program helping connect families with services.
• $350,000 for a new autism intervention program to help infants and toddlers with developmental delays.
• Adjusted funding to ensure public charter school students get the same investment from the state as all other public school students.
• Restored tuition grant money for 17,000 independent college students.
• $10 million for school safety grants.
• $400,000 to bolster care for Michigan’s Alzheimer and dementia community.
• $16.6 million for rural hospitals
• $10.7 million to improve pediatric psychiatric services
• Nearly $2 million to continue the fight against opioid drug abuse

The plan now moves to the governor’s desk to be considered for state law.

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