To provide a "template" or "place holder" for a Fiscal Year 2004-2005 Department of Agriculture budget. This bill contains no appropriations, but may be amended at a later date to include them.   Official Text and Analysis.

With the recommendation that the substitute (H-1) be adopted and that the bill then pass.

To add $10,000 to a “food bank” program for low income persons.

To reduce bovine tuberculosis program spending by #350,000.

To include spending on aquaculture and cervidae programs in a $1 million market development earmark.

To include a "placeholder" for potential funding in this budget for Michigan state fair operations.

The House version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004-2005 Department of Agriculture budget. (Note: Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s proposed budget for this department is House Bill 5605 .) This appropriates $105.1 million in adjusted gross spending (funded from all sources, including special state restricted fund and federal pass-through dollars, minus interdepartmental transfers), compared to $86.3 million, which was the FY 2003-2004 amount enrolled in 2003. Of this, $31.5 million will come from the general fund (funded by actual state tax revenues), compared to the FY 2003-2004 amount of $31.4 million. The House version authorizes approximately the same amount of gross spending as the governor recommended. However, given that the House version transfers $5.4 million in spending for the state fair from this budget to the Department of Management and Budget, other spending proposed by the House is actually higher. Much more information on Michigan’s budget is available at Hot Topics: Michigan’s Budget Challenge at www.mackinac.org/4964.

With the recommendation that the substitute (S-1) be adopted and that the bill then pass.

To replace the House version of this budget with a Senate version which expresses policy differences between the bodies on certain spending items. See Senate-passed version for details.

The Senate version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004-2005 Department of Agriculture budget. (Note: Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s proposed budget for this department is House Bill 5605 .) This appropriates $105.1 million in adjusted gross spending (funded from all sources, including special state restricted fund and federal pass-through dollars, minus interdepartmental transfers), compared to $86.3 million, which was the FY 2003-2004 amount enrolled in 2003. Of this, $31.5 million will come from the general fund (funded by actual state tax revenues), compared to the FY 2003-2004 amount of $31.4 million. The Senate version authorizes approximately the same amount of gross spending as the governor recommended. However, given that the Senate version transfers $5.4 million in spending for the state fair from this budget to the Department of Management and Budget, other spending proposed by the Senate is actually higher. Much more information on Michigan’s budget is available at Hot Topics: Michigan’s Budget Challenge at www.mackinac.org/4964.

To concur with a Senate-passed version of the bill. The vote sends the bill to a House-Senate conference committee to work out the differences.

The House-Senate conference report for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004-2005 Department of Agriculture budget. This appropriates $126.1 million in unadjusted gross spending, compared to the final FY 2003-2004 amount of $115.4 million. Of this, $30.0 million will come from the general fund (funded by actual state tax revenues), compared to the FY 2003-2004 amount of $3.4 million. The budget includes $6.1 in new funding for the horse race industry raised from the increased Detroit casino tax . Another $10 million increase is in federal money for Emerald Ash Borer control.