By Kristen M. Daum
The Times Herald
LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Department of Corrections should have enough money to train 400 new corrections officers next year after all.
A final budget proposal moving through the Legislature would restore the full $9 million in training funds Republican Gov. Rick Snyder originally had asked for in February.
It’s a compromise that reverses the Republican-controlled House’s plan to eliminate the money and the Senate’s plan to cut funding by 80 percent.
The full House approved the compromise proposal as part of the omnibus budget that cleared the chamber Tuesday. The Senate has yet to approve that bill and doesn’t plan to hold an up-or-down vote on it until at least next week.
The prospect of receiving the full $9 million in training funding is welcome news to the MDOC and the unions that represent corrections officers and other workers within the department.
“That funding is critical, so we’re very pleased that it’s back in,” MDOC spokesman Russ Marlan said.
Full story: Corrections budget plan restores officer training