I rise to oppose this bill. It is, as I said earlier, the omnibus bill for a variety of cuts in a variety of departments, many of which I think when it comes right down to it, we will not see. So I think we're playing games tonight, and this is a political statement that I certainly don't agree with. It has cuts, as I said earlier, to community colleges and higher education. It means that we are not going to invest in the children of this state to make sure that they have a strong future.

There are numerous cuts to community health that hurt those who are receiving Medicaid health care services. It has severely strong cuts to the Healthy Michigan Fund so that diabetes programs would be eliminated or cut severely. Infant mortality programs would be cut severely--programs that protect our children and our older adults. Early hearing screening would be totally eliminated. Those programs are important to our children.

Do I think the citizens of this state want to see a state that does not invest in its children? No, I do not. This bill, through the variety of cuts throughout it, means that we are not ensuring that we are investing in our children's future; we're not investing in our communities; we are not investing in safe places for people to live; and we are not investing in our economic growth. For those reasons, Mr. President, I ask that this be my "no" vote explanation.