2008-09 BUDGET NEARING COMPLETION

As of this writing (Friday, June 27th) expectations are that the budget will be completed today or early tomorrow morning.  Legislative leaders and the Governor approved the overall target figures for the 2008-09 budget Wednesday, June 25^th which included a 2 percent increase to revenue sharing and a slight hike for the state’s community colleges and public universities.  The agreement calls for a 0.5 across-the-board decrease for departmental budgets.  The agreed upon totals are $397 million less than the Governor’s initial budget proposal due primarily to the state’s declining economy.

Conference committees were able to work on a number of budgets Thursday, June 26^th which gave officials hope that full budget completion was still possible sometime today or in the post-midnight hours on Saturday.  The Fiscal Year 2009 budget was balanced without one penny of new revenue.  The $100 million stashed away in the Budget Stabilization Fund will be spent to help balance the budget.

Final specifics of the various departmental budgets will be available next week assuming completion by Saturday. 

GREAT LAKES COMPACT FINALIZED
The Great Lakes Compact to protect water resources passed the House Thursday, June 26^th following passage of the 12 bill package by the Senate on Wednesday, June 25^th.  The Governor has indicated her approval of the legislation once it reaches her desk.  It is the most significant environmental legislation this session.

Senator Patricia Birkholz (R-Saugatuck), Chair of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, said the package provides protections by using scientific standards to judge whether water withdrawals would be harmful.  The package is important because it protects both the environmental sensitivity of the state’s water resources as well as protects the rights of water users who act responsibly, she said.  It will provide clear guidelines to all persons on how the state’s water resources may be used.

Permits will be required for those withdrawing more than 2 million gallons a day and 1 million gallons in certain sensitive regions.  The state would have to sign off on water withdrawals if fish in coldwater streams are reduced by 3 percent or more.  Water bottling plants have to get permits if they use more than 200,000 gallons a day.  Under the legislation, water packaged in containers of 5.7 gallons or less can be transported outside the basin without being deemed a diversion of Great Lakes water. 

The legislation puts Michigan in a compact with seven other Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces to oversee the use of water in the Great Lakes basin.  The five lakes contain 20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water.  The legislation is inspired by growing fears that the Great Lakes could become the target of raids from outside states and regions experiencing dwindling water and growing populations.