State Rep Julie Alexander joined WKHM last Friday to follow up on two issues from the State of the State.
Alexander first provided an update on the Governor’s water crisis, PFAS. “When it comes to looking at the PFAS, we know that the PFAS substance is everywhere. For many years it was used in so many different products. From applications in the industrial industries, and food and textiles. A very stable product, the product itself takes so long to break down, because that’s what offered its value in the fire foams and teflons and scotchguard products.” Alexander said that the money to help is allocated. “Michigan legislature has allocated $125 million to assist in the identification, testing and cleanup of the contamination in Michigan.”
Next up, Alexander said that education dollars are the highest they’ve ever been, but money from other sources is down. “We’re at record-high state funding. We have increased more than $1 billion since 2015. Right now the per student funding has increased $620 per student,” Alexander said. “What we’re not saying then, in the next breath should be, there’s less federal money coming in and the financial obligations that school districts have from the retirement plans is taking a large chunk out of their budget. At the state, we are also contributing over $1.3 billion to help pay down that retirement debt. It’s challenging times, we understand that.”
