Snyders budget presentation

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Governor Rick Snyder is asking lawmakers to give the green light to a budget for the upcoming fiscal year that includes $195 million to help Flint recover from its drinking water crisis. Snyder also wants $165 million to go towards replacing lead pipes in other cities that have high lead levels in their drinking water too. The governor is also pivoting on where he wants the $715 million to come from to fund his plan to help get Detroit Public Schools out of debt. Instead of the money coming from the School Aid Fund, which would have taken money away from school districts across the state, he wants to tap into the tobacco settlement fund. DPS says it will run out of money by April if the state doesn’t step in to help. Beyond those priorities, the governor is also asking for more money to hire additional Michigan State Police troopers, corrections officers and to boost funding for higher education to levels last seen five years ago.