LANSING, Mich. — Last week, the state Senate dropped its plan to defund the school bus inspection program run by the Michigan State Police, The Grand Rapids Press reports. 

SBF has followed funding changes related to Michigan’s school bus inspection over the last two years. In October 2009, then Gov. Jennifer Granholm approved the state’s K-12 school aid budget without the $1.4 million necessary for the program. Shortly thereafter, however, she called upon the state Legislature to appropriate funding for the program.

Moreover, late last year SBFreported that funding for the program was cut from $1.4 million to $421,000 for the fiscal year. The cut to the funding reduced the number of inspectors from 15 to four staff members who were to perform intermittent inspections of some school districts' buses, rather than annual inspections of all districts’ buses.

In terms of this latest development, The Grand Rapids Press reports that the proposal for 2011-12 is to conduct all inspections. The House will also need to support the measure.