By JESSICA SIEFF
Niles Daily Star

Though it seems as if Michigan just crawled out of its last budgetary mess, it is time once again for state legislators face a deadline in settling a budget for the 2010 fiscal year.
State government officials set a self-imposed deadline of July 1, state Rep. John Proos, R-St. Joseph, said Monday.

The date happens to be when school districts – who have faced significant challenges over the last two years due to the slow-coming state budget – are to have their budgets finalized.

Proos said legislators will likely miss the deadline and face shortfalls that won’t be cushioned by federal aid.

“When we went about the business of determining the expected revenues in the most recent May revenue estimating conference, we found that we’re significantly short in the current fiscal year,” Proos said. “And we’re also expecting a huge hole in the 2011 fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1.”

The legislature was forced into shutdown after government officials couldn’t balance the budget in 2009, while the sting from 2007’s shutdown was still felt by some.

The state faces a deficit this year of $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion, lighter than in 2009, when the shortfall weighed in at $2.8 billion.

But Proos said where federal dollars cushioned the blow in 2009, the state will not face the same situation this year.

“Much of that can be attributed to the expiration of the use of the federal dollars that were available through the stimulus dollars, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds,” he said of the deficit. “Those dollars are no longer available to us.”

The state did make use of every possible opportunity of ARRA funds, Proos said.
Another blow came this past week, he added, as “the U.S. Senate failed to stop a filibuster” on a jobs bill “that included $540 million for the state of Michigan” in regard to the Medicaid system.

Michigan’s trouble balancing its budget is nothing new, and its deficit is a set of baggage that has been carried along for decades, Proos said.

But are revenues coming through via state taxes enough?

Proos said he believes that’s a matter of perspective. And he’s worried there are some in the legislature who will find increasing taxes an option to cover the shortfall and increase revenues to the state. He believes current revenues are enough and the issue facing the state is wasteful spending.

Proos gave two examples of how the state could open up the opportunity to save money and cut down on such spending.

First, he said, the state could find savings in selling some transportation assets. Michigan currently owns six airplanes that are “used very seldomly,” he said. But the state is considering the purchase of a seventh, something Proos said would be unnecessary.

Also, as vice chairman on the Department of Corrections Appropriations Committee, Proos said additional savings could be found in standardizing menus for facilities throughout the state.

The legislator said he believed a closer look, line by line, at what the state’s revenues are going toward could change the fiscal position of Michigan.

“I think the question is, how are we spending the money that’s coming in the doors from state taxpayers?” he said.

Meeting the July 1 deadline “appears to be pretty far off,” Proos said – unhappy news for school districts.

But government officials are further ahead in the process now than at the same time last year, with negotiations underway and proposals under consideration in conference committee.

“I don’t think there’s a doubt we’ll beat the October deadline,” Proos said.