LANSING — In Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s State of the State address Tuesday evening, he highlighted the achievements of his administration’s first term, while presenting a new plan to merge two governmental departments into a big one.

But many topics that could potentially affect students were vaguely mentioned.

“I was surprised by the absence of certain subjects in his speech and the inclusion of certain ones,” MSU College Democrats President Brianna Shamsuddoha said. “I was surprised by his inclusion of the discussion of the Elliott-Larsen Act, especially because that was a hot debate topic on the state legislature.”

Cuts to higher education funding?

Snyder did not explain the deficit next session’s budget would have — his administration is facing a $325 million mid-year shortfall.

Though there has been a lot of information in the past few days about possible budget cuts, Snyder didn’t go into details in his fifth State of the State address.

“(The budget) is going to require special work,” Snyder said. “We are not going to be beaten by some legacy of the past.”

MSU economics professor Lisa Cook said talking about the budget in this type of address would have been a downer.

“I didn’t expect him to talk about that. He wanted to give an upbeat, positive message,” Cook said. “The state of the state speech is more to provide a vision rather than budget cuts, and he wanted to talk a lot about positive things.”

The Snyder administration prepares to work with $532 million less revenue in the 2016 fiscal budget due to $224 million worth of tax credits cashed by an unidentified business in December.

Among the funding cuts needed to balance the budget, higher education could take a hit, said MSU economics professor Charles Ballard.

“There is a possibility because the shortfall is in the general fund, which covers higher (education), prisons and social services,” Ballard said. “There is at least some potential to touch the higher education.”

In Snyder’s first term as a governor, the amount of funding granted to state universities was cut 15 percent. Snyder explained it was needed in order to combat a budget deficit.

“My hope is that we aren’t going to touch higher education for local revenues here,” said Rep. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing.

In the past, MSU officials have reiterated that decreased state funding for higher education demands increased tuition costs for students.

In the democratic rebuttal to Snyder’s address, Senate Minority Leader Tim Greimel, D-Auburn Hills, said college affordability was a topic Snyder should not have left untouched.

“We need to do more make college affordable. That is critically important if our young people are going to be successful,” Greimel said.

MSU College Republicans President Lisa Jankowski said she was not fearful of possible cuts to higher education funding.

“He acknowledged his last four years of trying to turn the Michigan economy around,”Jankowski said. “It could be a possibility, but thats not something I’m fearful of right now.”

Shamsuddoha, on the other hand, said she expects less money for higher education.

“We are well prepared to see continue decreased state funding for our universities. That’s becoming a reality with the Republican leadership,” Shamsuddoha said. “Increase of funding for higher education is not a priority to them.”

New proposals

Griemel and other Democratic leaders expressed cautious optimism towards several of the governor’s new ideas, saying they were “eager to see the details around the governor’s proposals.”

But the caucus leadership did not hesitate in lambasting Snyder’s fiscal record, arguing that “in the last four years the economy has not worked for everyone,” citing a declining middle class and what Democrats have asserted as harsh taxation on the poor.

Snyder presented, as expected, a plan that would merge the Department of Community Health and the Department of Human Services to form the Department of Health and Human Services.

The restructuring is geared toward reducing the amount of programs, which Snyder said does not indicate that people are being helped; rather, he said, many programs are “facilitating dependency” through addressing symptoms and not root causes.

“The system is failing, folks,” Snyder said.

But the merger, economics professor Charles Ballard said, could bring about a problem — layoffs for government employees.

“I don’t think the numbers would be large, but I know that is something people are very concerned about,” Ballard said.

The merger will create the state’s largest department, surpassing the Michigan Department of Corrections in number of employees.

Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., D - East Lansing, said the merger could have a positive impact, but first more specifics must be released.

“I think the combination of the departments is actually about managing departments correctly,” Hertel said. “We need to make sure that we are protecting our future so that means making investments on higher education and transportation, and, as long as we are making those investments, I’m willing to work with the governor on what these issues have to be.”

Michigan roads

The move could be part of a strategy to help the economy and a road funding referendum that would improve roadways, as crummy roads can endanger drivers and cost them in vehicle repairs, Hertel said.

“We need a transportation proposal to deal with the fact that we have rotten roads and bridges in the state,” Snyder said. “The key issue is public safety.”

Snyder emphasized the importance of Michiganians’ approval of the referendum on the ballot for the improvement of the state’s roads.

“We need to ask our citizens to support our efforts in the ballot proposal in May,” Snyder said. “We need to do something, folks. Vote yes so we can have safer roads. ... Vote yes so we can have stronger schools and government.”

By voting for the referendum, citizens would vote to raise the state sales tax from 6 to 7 percent on the upcoming May 5 elections. The revenue would then be used to help improve roads, and part of the money would be allocated for Michigan schools.

“The proposal is not perfect and I suppose that, given all the competing interests in the Legislature, it will be very surprising to see a perfect one,” Ballard said. “It is the only game in town, and our roads, many of them in Michigan, are in exceedingly bad shape.”

Appealing to all parties

Ballard said Snyder’s speech on Tuesday was an inclusive one, aiming to reach not just Republicans, but also Democrats and independents.

Ballard said although Snyder touched on several traditional themes for the Republicans, the governor was sympathetic when he talked about helping others.

“His most passionate part of the speech was when he was talking about services for the poor and education for those who don’t have education, and when he talked about the Healthy Michigan Plan,” Ballard said. “Those are programs that are the kind of things Democrats rally around.”

Staff reporter Michael Kransz contributed to this report.