Letter to the Editor: McCready Says Budgeting Isn't Glamorous But Important

This letter was received by Birmingham Patch Editor Laura Houser.

As a state representative, I take my duty to represent the people of the 40th District very seriously and that includes keeping all of you informed about my work in Lansing. As you may know, I serve on the House Appropriations Committee, which is responsible for completing the state budget each year. This also includes serving on subcommittees for specific budget areas, including the Michigan State Police budget. I serve as chair of the MSP subcommittee and was tasked with coming up with an efficient and effective budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

For those who aren't familiar with the budget process, here's a brief overview. Each year, the governor gives his budget recommendations for the upcoming fiscal year (this year on Feb. 7) before a joint session of the House and Senate appropriations committees. Both the House and Senate budget committees have subcommittees that review and develop budgets for each state department. As I mentioned before, I chair the MSP appropriations subcommittee, but also serve as the vice chair of the subcommittees on human services and natural resources.

Completing a budget is a responsibility that I do not take lightly, so I did my research about the MSP and its operations before moving forward with any recommendations. In recent weeks I have visited and toured the MSP's Forensics Lab where I was shown new technologies the MSP is working on, such as facial recognition software to help identify criminals. I also was shown more traditional technologies like polygraphs and perpetrator sketches. MSP officials were kind enough to take the time to open up their facilities to us and I appreciate the time they took to help me understand their operations.

For additional research, we held a committee hearing at the Michigan State Police Trooper Academy. After the hearing, MSP officials showed us the dorms where cadets live during training, and the facilities that have been developed as training components for the troopers. I was very impressed with the facilities and now have a greater appreciation for the intense training our troopers go through. This behind the scenes look was a great opportunity to help me understand how MSP's operations work and gave us a chance to see how they are efficiently using state funding.

We have been meeting for weeks, reviewing the governor's recommendations and working out the details of our own recommendations, which will then be considered by the full House Appropriations Committee. Last week, the MSP subcommittee reported out our budget recommendation. Other subcommittees did the same and the entire committee will begin reviewing budgets together very soon. The Senate also goes through the same process and final versions of the state budget will be worked out in a conference committee of representatives and senators.

While the budget process might not be exciting for everyone, it is crucial to keeping our state on the right track and helping our economy continue to recover. I take this responsibility seriously and am proud to be part of the process. Although the budget most likely will change from its current form, I remain committed to approving a budget that is focused on efficient and effective spending. Getting the budget done by June 1 to give school districts, local governments and others relying on state funding the ability to accurately plan their own budgets is a priority of mine as well. Budgeting isn't easy or glamorous but working to help the hard-working taxpayers succeed is what I came to Lansing to do and I always stick to my word. After all, that's what you elected me to do.

Mike McCready
Michigan House of Representatives 

The viewpoints in this letter are those of the writers, and Patch is not responsible for any ideas portrayed as facts. For questions and clarifications, please leave a comment below or contact editor Laura Houser at laura.houser@patch.com or 248-534-9780.