Budget draws criticism for prison increase

n Engler's proposed budget increases prison spending more than

state university funding

By Nick Bunkley

Daily Staff Reporter

Although Gov. John Engler last month proclaimed Michigan's higher education system "the best in the country" during his State of the State address, Engler's fiscal year 2000 budget recommendation has drawn criticism from some legislators who say the governor's budget ignores the growing needs of state colleges and universities.

Following the budget presentation last Thursday, Rep. Hubert Price (D-Pontiac) confronted State Budget Director Mary Lannoye about a discrepancy he saw between spending on higher education and state prisons.

"I'm having trouble reconciling how (Engler) can say that education is the number one priority with the dollar amounts," Price said yesterday.

Price and other legislators have pointed at the proposed 4 percent overall increase for colleges and universities in comparison to an 8.6 percent funding hike for the Department of Corrections.

"We have consistently, for the last 10-15 years, given corrections a blank check," Price said.

Matt Davis, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Corrections, said lawmakers should not be comparing higher education and prisons because they are unrelated issues.

"There's no relevance other than the fact that they're part of the general fund budget," Davis said.

"If the only thing spent on the education of college students was represented by that amount in the general fund budget, then they would be comparable," he said.

Sen. John Schwarz (R-Battle Creek), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Colleges and Universities, said the inflated corrections costs result from a system that has grown too large, too fast.

"The corrections system can't continue to grow at this rate," Schwarz said. "The incarceration rate in this country is a disgrace."

Schwarz cited past budget figures to support his argument.

"Just a few years ago the Department of Corrections took 9.2 percent of the general fund budget," Schwarz said, adding that he expects this year's amount to be almost twice that much.

Davis said the proposed corrections spending is required to fund a department that oversees the state's 44,000 prisoners and overall as many offenders as an average Michigan Stadium crowd of 111,000.

Prisons have expenditures that educational institutions do not, he said.

"The state doesn't clothe students," Davis said. "The state doesn't feed students or provide 24-hour security and medical care for all students."

Increased spending on prisons also helps to ensure that "parole boards are not paroling violent offenders," he said.

Sen. Walter North (R-St. Ignace), chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Corrections, said he understands the arguments against prison spending, but unfortunately prisons are in need of the money.

"I think Sen. Schwarz's point is well taken," North said. But "the cost of incarceration is not cheap."

Department of Management and Budget spokesperson Kelly Chesney said state colleges and universities comprise only a small portion of total educational spending. Of the entire budget, $13 billion goes toward education, and $1.56 billion goes toward corrections," Chesney said.

"You can see that education is seeing the lion's share of the budget," she said.

If the budget recommendation were to stay as proposed, the University would receive at most a 3 percent funding increase from the current fiscal year. In December, the University Board of Regents requested 5 percent more funding.

Although the proposed budget falls 2 percent short of the regents' request, Chesney said the needs of the University were considered when drafting the budget recommendation.

"We looked at the University," Chesney said. "We believe that the University of Michigan has received a fair increase. It's above the rate of inflation."

02-17-99