Michigan

Michigan

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FY2026 (proposed)
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FY2022 (enacted)
FY2021 (enacted)

Proposed Budget - Fiscal Year 2026

On February 5, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer released her fiscal 2026 budget proposal that calls for $84.84 billion in total spending, a 2.8 percent increase from fiscal 2025 current law. The recommended budget calls for $15.3 billion in general fund spending, a 2.7 percent increase from fiscal 2025. Additionally, the budget includes a school aid fund total of $19.5 billion, a 5.2 percent increase from fiscal 2025. Total budget by source includes federal (41.7 percent), school aid (23.4 percent), general fund (18.3 percent), other state restricted (15.9 percent), and local/private (0.7 percent). The budget projects general fund net tax revenue at $15.48 billion, a 5.2 percent increase from fiscal 2025’s estimated level. The budget recommendation calls for a $50 million deposit to the Budget Stabilization Fund, bringing the rainy day fund balance to $2.3 billion by the end of fiscal 2026, an all-time high. The budget also calls for a $50 million deposit into the rainy day fund for schools, bringing the combined reserve total to $2.8 billion. 

Proposed Budget Highlights 

The governor’s budget proposal is focused on making sure anyone can make it in Michigan, and is aimed at aimed at lowering costs, creating good-paying jobs, growing the economy, improving academic results, and supporting seniors. Highlights of the budget include:

Lowering Costs

• Maintains the Working Families Tax Credit
• Provides universal pre-K through the Great Start Readiness Program to an estimated 51,700 children
• Continues providing free school meals to all 1.4 million public school students
• Supports the MiABLE program expansion, which helps Michiganders with disabilities save money without impacting their benefits eligibility
• Provides childcare for approximately 700 children of Michigan National Guard members
• Funds financial literacy efforts
• Ensures test fees remain capped at $5 for low-income students
• Creates affordability programs for families struggling with water bills

Creating Jobs

• Fixing Roads and Bridges
  • Includes funding to ensure Michigan matches all federal highway aid; improve state and local roads, highways, and bridges across the state; provide ongoing support for transit and rail programs; support a study and pilot program of potential road usage charge options; and install electric vehicle charging stations
• Workers and Small Businesses
  • Invests in Small Business Entrepreneurial Support Hubs; partners with employers to meet their unique talent needs; grows CTE programs in underserved districts; expands registered apprenticeship and apprenticeship readiness programs; increases the existing employer assisted housing pilot program; and provides academic remediation, specialized tutoring, and enrollment into career and technical training or college
• Growing the Economy
  • Continues Going Pro job training grants to businesses to support training for current and new employees; offers affordable childcare to families of children with disabilities and living in areas where childcare is scarce; streamlines permitting processes; supports rural communities through rural prosperity grants and the expansion of the Rural Development Grant Program; and invests in programs to retain and attract talent

Getting SMART on Education

• K-12 Education
  • Supports school operations through a 4.1 percent increase in base per-pupil funding; expands support for special education students; continues mental health and safety grants to districts; implements the Governor’s Students, Metrics and Results with Transparency plan to improve student outcomes; provides additional literacy coaches; continues historic investments to improve the educator talent pipeline; and provides resources to help school staff get the education they need to become certified teachers
• Higher Education and Workforce Development
  • Funds a 4 percent ongoing increase for university and community college operations; invests in the Postsecondary Scholarship Fund to continue fully phasing in costs of the Michigan Advancement Scholarship; and provides aid to improve student support and completion efforts

Supporting Seniors

• Continues to provide tax relief to seniors through the rollback of the retirement tax
• Expands the PACE program, which provides comprehensive care for the frail and elderly
• Supports new positions to provide more timely and comprehensive oversight of nursing homes and acute and continuing care facilities
• Enhances oversight of Homes for the Aged
• Supports services for Michiganders experiencing dementia

Protecting and Defending Michiganders

• Upgrades critical infrastructure at Selfridge Air National Guard base; directs opioid settlement funds to reduce overdose deaths; taxes vaping and non-tobacco nicotine products similar to other tobacco products; includes a 4 percent ongoing increase in revenue sharing for localities; increases funding to address violent crime prevention; invests in victim support services; protects Michigan’s food supply and helps livestock farmers prevent disease outbreaks; implements reforms from the Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform; establishes a state veterans cemetery; supports behavioral health resources for first responders; and increases the First Responders Presumed Coverage Fund

Making Government Work Better

• Upgrades government information technology applications and modernizes legacy systems; funds infrastructure improvements and maintenance for state facilities; establishes a self-insurance fund for state-owned and managed facilities; increases staffing and funding for trial courts; supports investments by state agencies that reduce energy consumption; and provides funding to operate the state’s new psychiatric hospital

Proposed Budget Information
Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Proposal 

Budget Presentation 

General Briefing Issue Papers

Education Issue Papers

Press Release 

Revenue Forecast – January 2025