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CURRENT PRESS RELEASE |
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5/5/11
State Rep. Dave Agema, R-Grandville, today offered an amendment to the school aid budget that was ultimately adopted on the floor. The amendment reduces public university appropriations by 5% when the universities are shown to provide health care benefits to the live-in partners or roommates of university employees.
"Public universities are thumbing their noses at the rule of law because of their special constitutional privilege dictating that we can't tell them how to spend the money we appropriate to them. We can, however, not give them that money in the first place if they disregard the law, which is what this amendment does. It then uses the money from the universities that refused to change their policy and places it into the K-12 public schools retirement coffers to help eliminate the shortfall there. This could be worth up to $60 million to schools."
Agema has fought against unmarried and same-sex health benefits for public employee partners for four years, and was pleased with the adoption of his amendment and the ultimate passage of the school aid funding bill.
"Michigan residents, the Attorney General and the Supreme Court have said no to subsidizing unmarried and same-sex benefits on the taxpayer's dime," Agema said. "Public universities have disregarded that and placed themselves above the law and above the will of the people on this issue, and I think it's true justice that now there is a penalty for that."
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