Legislative update:
Door-to-door in the district

Per-pupil funding for schools appears safe in the short term, and I am very pleased to report that the House of Representatives rejected the Governor’s proposed cuts in 20J funding for out-of-formula school districts, including Grosse Pointe. 20J funds are monies allocated to higher spending districts so that they would be held harmless in the overhaul of school finance back in the 1990s.  About 25 or 30 districts receive 20J funding in the state, and the Governor had proposed dramatic cuts in this funding in her original budget.

I worked closely with Rep. Terry Brown, the chairman of the K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee, to ensure that Grosse Pointe Schools would not see this draconian funding cut in the K-12 budget voted out of the House. Now we have to see what the Senate does with the school budget. Look to this column for updates about the budget situation.

Winter coffee hours conclude, summer hours coming soon

I had a terrific turnout at my weekly coffee hours during February and March, and will resume coffee hours in June. Over the winter we held coffee hours at the Grosse Pointe Park City Hall, at DARE Place in Detroit, at Harper Woods City Hall, and on three occasions at Biggby Coffee on Mack in Grosse Pointe Farms. A separate article in GrossePointeToday.com describes one of the Biggby meetings.

This summer I will revisit all these communities, and add some evening time slots for those who find mornings inconvenient. Please stop by any of these coffee hours and share your ideas and concerns about state government. I will post summer coffee hours in a future column.

Thanks to GrossePointeToday.com

I committed to submitting columns to GrossePointeToday.com every other week during my service in the Michigan House.  Many important decisions are made in Lansing, yet our state government sees scant coverage in the news media. I welcome this opportunity to share information with you about Michigan state government and thank Nancy Derringer, Sheila Tomkowiak, and Ben Burns for the opportunity to do so.

Contact Tim Bledsoe: 

 TimBledsoe@house.mi.gov

Web: www.house.mi.gov/tbledsoe

Phone: 517-373-0154 (Toll-Free 888-254-5291) 

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