Budget talk likely to focus on surplus

LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) - On Thursday, Gov. Rick Snyder and his team will lay out their spending plan for the upcoming budget.

Last year, the budget was passed earlier than any time in the past 30 years -- despite big changes that demanded more political wrangling.

There's no indication that this year's budget will have the same the sweeping changes we saw last year.

Instead, the hot-button issue will  likely be how to spend the surplus of about $457 million left over from the last fiscal year. That money may go to schools, but it is likely to have performance requirements attached to it.

Some of the surplus money may also go to pay against the state's unfunded liabilities, which total more than $40 billion, and some could go into the "rainy day" account.

Democrats want all school funding that was cut last year be replaced with the extra funding, but some Republicans say that putting one-time money toward schools is not a good solution.

Attorney General Bill Schuette has said that he would like to use some of the surplus to hire about 1,000 law enforcement officers. It's not yet clear if that will be included in the governor's plan -- though he did talk about reducing the state's crime rates in his January State of the State address.

In any event, there is certain to be disagreement -- largely along party lines -- about the viability of the plan that the Snyder administration presents.

24 Hour News 8 will be in Lansing on Thursday to bring you the latest details from the budget plan.