Budget bills are starting to move at the state Capitol as lawmakers attempt to get an earlier start on crafting a spending plan for the coming fiscal year and avert a deadlock similar to last year’s standoff that pushed past Michigan's constitutional deadline.
The Senate Appropriations Committee sent several spending bills to the floor Thursday. These early versions will likely be voted on next week by the full Senate and then sent to the House.
The bills would fund some state departments, public universities, and community colleges.
Democratic Senator Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing), who chairs the appropriations committee, said revenue is tighter this year, but she hopes to adopt a balanced budget — which is required under the state constitution — without raising taxes.
“Folks are hurting right now, and so for us to start the conversation right now with new taxes doesn’t seem to be a place that our members want to start,” she said. But she acknowledged lawmakers will have to adjust to meet conditions. For example, she said, the storms that have caused devastation across the state are going to have to be figured in.
“We’re seeing extreme weather patterns – natural disasters, whether it’s water, tornadoes, things that are really impacting people’s lives,” she said. “We can’t account for those things. So, I always want to make sure we that have the resources we need to address pressing needs.”
House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) also said new taxes are off the table — and so is dipping into the state’s “rainy day” savings, which was part of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s 2026 budget rollout.
“We’re proposing an investment of $300 million in the ‘rainy day’ fund,” he said. “This is not a rainy day.”
Nevertheless, budget crafters have a lot less money to work with than initially anticipated, according to official revenue estimates. That will make the job tougher than last year, when the Legislature blew past both the July 1 deadline set in state law as well as the October 1 start of the fiscal year.
Whitmer signed a finalized budget seven days past that deadline after the Legislature adopted an extension.
Hopes are that will not happen for a second year in a row.
“We look forward to working with our legislative partners to pass a fiscal year 2027 budget by July 1 that lowers costs, ensures our kids can succeed, and protects Medicaid,” said Lauren Leeds, spokesperson for the State Budget Office.
