LANSING - State Representative George Cushingberry Jr. (D-Detroit) today condemned the Republicans' proposed budget, saying it takes away health care and education for prisoners and hurts job creation.
"We are facing tough economic times," said Cushingberry, a member of the Appropriations Committee who voted against the budget. "It is simply irresponsible for the Republicans to cut $200 million from Governor Granholm's jobs creation package. This is a time when people need jobs. We need to invest in Detroit, Wayne County and Michigan workers and create jobs for the future."
The Republicans' proposed cutting $7.5 million in funding for home health care seniors of which $1.5 million is cut from Wayne County residents, $98 million in funding for health care for the families of ill children, which will affect more than 10,000 families in Wayne County; $1.5 million of funding for independent seniors -- nearly $38 million for day care services while slashing $646,000 for inspections of adult foster care and day care facilities and more than $200 million from Governor Jennifer Granholm's jobs creation package, $17 million from academic and vocational programs in prisons and $2 million for testing and treating prisoners with Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.
"The corrections system is supposed to be a place of rehabilitation," Cushingberry said. "To the Republicans, prison is only a holding pen. We cannot send these people back to our communities without any skills and then expect them to be contributing members of our society. Taking away education from prisoners is a disgrace and goes against the American way of getting a second chance."