Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the Senate on April 21, 2005, to overhaul the School Bond Loan Fund program, essentially replacing it with a state revolving loan fund that school districts can borrow from to finance capital improvement projects (buildings). Borrowing through the School Bond Loan Fund allows schools to borrow at the same interest rate as the state. The current program does not require schools to repay loans on a regular schedule, which burdens the state with part of a school's interest expense. The bill is part of a legislative package comprised of Senate Bills 407 to 411. This bill would require districts whose millage revenue exceeds minumum debt service levels to repay the state more quickly

The vote was 33 in favor, 5 opposed and 0 not voting

(Senate Roll Call 192 at Senate Journal 54)

Click here to view bill details.

Certain kinds of projects? like wages and benefitsmaybe?

I thought the lottery instituted about a century ago was for schools! Whatever happened to that?

The Michigan lottery, approved by voters not "centuries ago" but during the 1970s (I believe), was to provide funds for school public schools in the state. It did, and does. But the legislature, as it did and does, played an old shell game in which the amount of general fund money allocated to schools was decreased by the amount of lottery money dedicated to that purpose. So there was no net increase in school funding by that means.

Not 'centuries?' Ask someone who is 29 years of age. :) If all the many give-aways in the state were stopped, this shell game would have to stop also!

Senator Clark-Coleman, under her constitutional right of protest (Art. 4, Sec. 18), protested against the passage of Senate Bill No.406. Senator Clark-Coleman's statement is as follows: I rise today to ask that my name be removed as sponsor of Senate Bill No.406. As introduced, the bill was part of the Governor's Jobs Today initiative and included exciting provisions for the creation of small high schools. During the process, however, those new bond initiatives were removed from the bill. It is now a reform of the school bond loan fund. While I am pleased that this reform will result in additional revenue to the School Aid Fund, certain provisions appear to be very detrimental to the Detroit Public Schools. Efforts to address the issue of the Detroit Public Schools that they may face under this bill have been unsuccessful, and so at this time, I ask that my name me removed as sponsor of this bill.