To provide the “template” or “place holder” for a Senate Republican version of a Fiscal Year 2004-2005 higher education 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 (S-1) be adopted and that the bill then pass.

To replace the executive proposal for this budget, contained in Senate Bill 1042 , with a budget that expresses policy differences between the Republican-majority in the House and Governor Jennifer Granholm on certain spending items. See Senate-passed version for major features, and Senate Fiscal Agency analysis for detailed analysis. (the “Text and Analysis” at the top of this bill’s MichiganVotes.org page is a link to this).

To consider a person who is not a citizen or permanent resident of the United States to be a “resident” for purposes of charging lower in-state tuition at state universities, if the person has lived in Michigan with a parent or legal guardian while attending high school, graduated from high school or received a GED in Michigan, has lived here for at least three years, and will apply for permanent resident status when eligible.

To strip out $64.7 million for state scholarships to students at private colleges, which the governor recommended cutting.

The Senate version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004-2005 higher education budget. (Note: Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s proposed budget for this department is Senate Bill 1042.) This appropriates $1.698 billion in adjusted gross spending (funded from all sources, including special state restricted fund and federal pass-through dollars, minus interdepartmental transfers), compared to $1.789 billion, which was the FY 2003-2004 amount enrolled in 2003. Of this, $1.603 billion will come from the general fund (funded by actual state tax revenues), compared to the FY 2003-2004 amount of $1.632 million. The Senate version authorizes approximately $66.6 million more in gross spending than the governor recommended. This includes $64.7 million for state scholarships to students at private colleges, which the governor recommended cutting. The Senate version contains the governor's tuition restraint proposal, which promised the partial restoration of 2003 cuts for colleges that keep tuition increases below the rate of inflation. 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 (H-1) be adopted and that the bill then pass.

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

To insert a $100 "points of difference" from the Senate-passed version of the bill on funding for the Joseph F. Young, Sr. psychiatric research and training program, which means this item may be revised by an eventual House-Senate conference committee.

To insert a $100 "points of difference" from the Senate-passed version of the bill on funding for for state scholarships to students at private colleges, which means these may be revised by an eventual House-Senate conference committee.

To establish as the intent of the legislature that the university presidents council review and report on the prices of textbooks.

To prohibit racial preferences in university admissions and grants, or any other preferential treatment based on a student's race, religion, creed, or national origin.

To include under the terms of the tuition-restraint grant negotiated as part of last year’s budget any "fee" that will be paid by more than half of all resident undergraduate students at least once during their enrollment at a state university.

The House version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004-2005 Department of Education budget. (Note: Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s proposed budget for this department is Senate Bill 1038.) This appropriates $112.4 million in adjusted gross spending (funded from all sources, including special state restricted fund and federal pass-through dollars, minus interdepartmental transfers), compared to $113.3 million, which was the FY 2003-2004 amount enrolled in 2003. Of this, $26.4 million will come from the general fund (funded by actual state tax revenues), compared to the FY 2003-2004 amount of $29.3 million. The House version authorizes approximately $1.8 million less in gross spending than the governor recommended. 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 House-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 higher education budget. This appropriates $1.690 billion in unadjusted gross spending, compared to $1.697 billion, which was the final FY 2003-2004 gross. Of this, $1.600 billion will come from the general fund (funded by actual state tax revenues), compared to the final FY 2003-2004 amount of $1.603 million. The budget restores a three-percent cut to universities that have kept their tuition increases below 2.8 percent. To qualify, Northern Michigan University, Lake Superior State University, Western Michigan University, Michigan State University, Saginaw Valley State University and Grand Valley State University will have to either rebate past tuition hikes, roll back new “student fees,” or increase tuition this year by an even lesser amount.