LANSING, Mich. (AP) – The Michigan House has approved a $38.8 billion budget bill that would boost spending on road construction, dental coverage for low-income teens and the state attorney general’s criminal investigation into the Flint water crisis. Big-ticket new spending approved 76-32 Wednesday includes the state’s share of Medicaid expansion costs under the federal health care law and expenses associated with providing expensive specialty drugs to people with Hepatitis C or cystic fibrosis. Many Democrats voted against the bill. They have objections to a company serving food in prisons, funding levels for local governments and public money covering the Gov. Rick Snyder’s legal bills in Flint-related criminal probes. After the Senate OKs its own budget plan, legislators hope to have a deal by early June – four months before the new fiscal year.
