At 11 a.m., Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to unveil his budget to the state Legislature. It'll then be up to those representatives to wrestle with the numbers and come up with a final budget for the state. Among the things he's expected to call for:
After years of cuts, he'll call for a 2 percent increase in public education funding
More funding for road construction
And an expansion of Medicaid
More details emerge on I-75 crash, trooper saves one girl
More details came out yesterday on the deadly pileup on I-75 near Detroit the morning of Jan. 31.
A whiteout caused 12 crashes involving 43 cars on the Interstate. There were 12 injuries and 3 fatalities.
This morning, the Detroit News has more on Michigan State Trooper Seth Swanson's actions:
After failing to find a pulse on the first two children, Swanson went to the other side of the car, broke out the rear window with a hammer and reached in to see if the third child, a 10-year-old girl, was still alive. She had a faint pulse.
He cleared her airway and administered rescue breaths until she finally took a deep breath and regained consciousness.
And more snow is on the way, so drive carefully
Snow is expected for the entire state starting this evening. The middle of the state is expected to get the most snowfall. From the National Weather Service:
This system has the potential to generate heavy snowfall. 7 to 11 inches is expected north of M 46 and near Lake Huron, while 3 to 8 inches is possible for areas across the rest of Southeast Lower Michigan.
Mark Torregrossa from MLive says computer models for storms like this can predict higher snowfalls. His prediction is 4 to 9 inches for the middle of the state, and 1 to 4 inches for the rest of the state.
The following is a summary of a previously recorded interview. To hear the complete segment, click the audio above.
News out of Lansing: Governor Snyder announced today that he supports expanding Medicaid eligibility to hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents without insurance.
The expansion comes under the Obama administration's health care overhaul.... and there are benefits for states that decide to expand Medicaid. The federal government will pick up the entire cost in the first three years... and 90 percent over the long haul.
But, Snyder is likely to run into resistance from fellow Republicans who are opposed to the Affordable Health Care law.
Meanwhile, the Governor is also gearing up to deliver his budget proposal for fiscal year 2013-2014 tomorrow. You could say, unveiling the proposal begins the "debate" (sometimes putting that kindly) in Lansing over what should and should not be funded.
So which programs and initiatives could be winners? And which could be losers in the Governor's spending plan? And in what the Legislature ultimately does with it?
Cyndy talked with Chris Gautz, Capitol Correspondent for Crain's Detroit Business and Dave Eggart, the Lansing reporter for the Associated Press.
A private company will start picking up Flint’s residential trash next month.
Emergency Financial Manager Ed Kurtz says Republic Services can handle Flint’s waste collection for a million dollars a year less than the city can itself. The two sides signed a contract this week.
Snyder to decide this week whether to expand Medicaid
In his budget address this week, Gov. Rick Snyder will announce whether he'll expand Medicaid. Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government would pay for the state to allow an additional 400,000 people in the state to receive Medicaid coverage. The state would eventually have to pay for a portion of the costs, Rick Pluta reports.
Snyder to propose adding $50 to $100 million to Rainy Day Fund
Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to recommend that the state add $50 to $100 million to its Budget Stabilization Fund, better known as the Rainy Day Fund. Some Democrats argue though that now is not the time to be saving. The Detroit Free Press quotes Gilda Jacobs, president and CEO of the Michigan League for Public Policy.
"For lots of families, it is raining right now," Jacobs said. "There really is the opportunity to take a portion of the money that is in the Rainy Day Fund and use it for families that are experiencing hardship."
Chrysler pays tribute to troops, farmers in two Super Bowl ads
Chrysler's two Super Bowl ads were among the most well-received auto advertisements according to the Detroit Free Press. Chrysler's first ad, voiced by Oprah Winfrey, was a Jeep spot that paid tribute to the military. Their second commercial, an ad for Ram pickup trucks, featured the late radio personality Paul Harvey reading "So God Made a Farmer."
Western Michigan University says it's raising tuition 3.9 percent for the coming academic year, reports the AP.
Trustees at the Kalamazoo school approved the increase today. The school says instate freshmen and sophomores will pay $9,982 in tuition and mandatory fees in 2012-13. That's up $376 from the current academic year.
Western Michigan says with the increase, the school is 10th in cost among the 15 Michigan public universities.
Out-of-state freshmen and sophomores will pay $23,262 for the academic year.
The trustees approved an operating budget of $349 million for the 2012-13 year.
Last year, Michigan Radio's Jennifer Guerra reported on public university tuition increases for the 2012-2011 academic year:
University of Michigan: 6.7% increase for in-state undergraduates, 4.9% for out-of-state students.
Last night, a reluctant Lansing City Council approved a plan to eliminate a nearly two million dollar budget deficit. Lansing's fiscal year concludes at the end of this week.
Flint residents will get a chance this afternoon to have their say about a proposed fee increase to pay for city streetlights. But what they say may not be enough to prevent the fee from going into effect.
The city of Flint pays for keeping its streetlights lit with money from the city’s general fund.
It appears a budget deal between Governor Rick Snyder and the Legislature’s Republican leaders could include an election year tax cut. An early version of the proposal would accelerate a drop in the state income tax rate and increase the personal exemption.
The governor and G-O-P leaders want to wrap up the budget by the end of next week.
Governor Snyder says he was skeptical at first, but he says revenue projections look promising enough to at least start talking about a tax cut for individuals and families.
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