While Governor Rick Snyder outlined his budget vision for the next year on Thursday, some advocates in Michigan continued calls for increased spending on social programs that might keep people out of prison in the long run. Anika Fassia, with the Michigan League for Human Services, recently authored a report which found that about 25 percent of Michigan's general fund goes to the corrections system. She says it makes no sense to continue throwing money at locking people up when we could prevent them from taking the wrong path in the first place:
Michigan is one of just two states in the nation that spends more on corrections than on higher education. Fassia says that policymakers need to take a look at recent choices that she calls cuts to opportunities for children and families, like the decision to reduce the state's Earned Income Tax Credit by 70 percent...cuts in at-risk grants...and the elimination of some job training programs.
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Michigan is one of just two states in the nation that spends more on corrections than on higher education. Fassia says that policymakers need to take a look at recent choices that she calls cuts to opportunities for children and families, like the decision to reduce the state's Earned Income Tax Credit by 70 percent...cuts in at-risk grants...and the elimination of some job training programs.
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