Educators, city leaders and advocates for the poor, mentally impaired and disabled expressed anger Friday in the wake of some $600 million in state budget cuts passed by the Republican-controlled Senate.

The list of budget-balancing reductions finally became public Thursday night when the Senate voted along partisan lines to slash school aid, health care programs, transportation and a host of other state programs and services.

This was the Republican alternative to Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm's plan to impose a 2-percent service tax and raise other levies to erase more than $900 million in red ink. The Senate rejected the service tax, but also agreed to $344 million in cuts ordered by Granholm.

Despite the unhappiness among those whose budgets would be cut, Senate Republicans said taxpayers are winners.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, said Granholm's tax on services "had no support. I can't imagine it's one that will reappear" in future years, he said.

In a meeting with The Detroit News editorial board Friday, Bishop said some of Granholm's other tax proposals -- on cigarettes, liquor and large estates, for example -- are "more palatable." They haven't been rejected by the Senate and are still in play.

Here's a sampling of reaction:

A $97,400 cut to Meals-On-Wheels in Metro Detroit means that some seniors may get a phone call saying services have been canceled, rather than hot meals delivered to their homes, said Mary Alban, director of the Area Agencies on Aging Association.

"The cuts may represent a small piece of the total program, but when it's your grandmother or mother not getting a hot meal, it's important," Alban said.

A 2 percent wage hike for home health service workers would be rolled back under the Senate plan.

"We already have trouble getting people to do the work and this is going to make it even more difficult," said Dohn Hoyle, executive director of The Arc Michigan, which has 38 agencies around the state that advocate for the mentally impaired.

He said the $11 million cut won't be a money-saver for Michigan because it'll force people into more expensive nursing home facilities.

Jim Ryan, superintendent of the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools, said his district has cut $8 million the past five years, and is trying to slash $5.5 million from next year's budget.

Now, a $34-per-student school aid cut passed by the Senate would take another $600,000 with only a few months left in the school year.

"We're cutting into basic education now. There are no frills here, I don't care what anybody says," Ryan said.

Added Justin King, executive director of the Michigan Association of School Boards: "I'm ticked off. There's no courage in Lansing. There needs to be a discussion about quality of life, not just tax cuts and budget cuts. I expect more of the people I elect than to wait around for the next crisis."

A $40 million cut to municipal revenue sharing could mean fewer services and public safety cuts in cities and villages, said Arnold Weinfeld, director of public policy and federal affairs for the Michigan Municipal League.

He said cuts of $2 billion in the past five years have already resulted in 1,600 fewer police officers and 2,400 fewer firefighters in the state.

"If this goes through, we will see less public safety officers on the street," he said.

Livonia Mayor Jack Engebretson says his city has reduced its work force by 90 positions in the past few years.

"We've lost several million in revenue sharing in recent years and this one would mean a cut of about $213,000 for us," he said.

"I'm very disheartened by the way our government in Lansing has been engaged in this brutal partisan politics. This has to change and if it doesn't, we're all in for even harder times. "

Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell said the budget deficit in Michigan's second biggest city, with a populaon of 200,000, just got a lot worse by the Senate's action. It would lose $920,000.

"So as of today, I'm looking at a budget deficit of about $6.7 million," he said.

"We've cut 52 police officers, 28 firefighters' positions and a total of 282 jobs in the last six years, which is a 17 percent reduction in our work force. We have six swimming pools and three haven't been opened for four years."