You may have heard by now that the Michigan House of Representatives Appropriations Committee approved the Higher Education funding bill and moved it on to the full House, where it was adopted by a large majority. Next, the Senate will review all appropriations funding, including that for higher education. Steve Pueppke and I will testify before the Senate Higher Ed Appropriations subcommittee on April 20—basically repeating the process that we went through with the House.
Rep. Joan Bauer, right, chats with Dale Mutch and Allegan County Commissioner Casey Jones during a learning session at KBS. Interactions like this give MSUE stakeholders an opportunity to tell their stories to House members.
In the meantime, the legislature is on spring break. Many legislators are in their districts, attending functions and seeking public input on a variety of issues. This is a great time to thank House members for their support of MSU Extension and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station. I urge you to ignore individual votes and look at the progress of the committee as a whole. The few who voted against the appropriations budget made it clear that their concern lies in the fear that there won’t be enough state revenue to fund all the appropriations’ bills as the proceed through the process, not that they are unsupportive of MSUE and the MAES.
As I’ve said before, the blessing of having our own funding lines is that we are held accountable. If we’re not successful in retaining our funding, we have not been meeting the needs of the people we serve. And when we are successful, as we are in this case, I’m inclined to think it means we’re living up to Michigan residents’ expectations. That means you are doing what we need you to do.
We can improve and we will. We can become more efficient and we will. We can become even more resourceful in bringing other funding sources to bear on Michigan’s needs, and we will. I think we’re on the right track. Thanks for all you do to contribute to our success!
