Great Lakes Wire

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, House Speaker Matt Hall, and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks engaged in discussions on Wednesday to lay the groundwork for a compromise on the K-12 portion of the Fiscal Year 2026 budget. These talks occurred while Gov. Whitmer was in Australia for a trade mission.

The negotiations are taking place under a statutory deadline of July 1, which was established after the contentious 2019 budget negotiations. During those negotiations, a non-negotiated budget was sent to Gov. Whitmer's desk by Republican leaders, leading her to use the Administrative Board to reallocate funds and make significant cuts.

The discussions involve various spending plans, including those for the Department of Education, School Aid Fund, Higher Education budget for universities, community college budget, and the Department of Lifelong Education.

House Speaker Matt Hall has criticized the University of Michigan (U-M) and Michigan State University (MSU), stating they have become elitist. His higher education budget proposes an overall funding increase of 3.4% for state universities but includes significant cuts to U-M and MSU. Hall noted that several universities receiving increased funding have responded positively despite these cuts.

“Central Michigan University specifically thanked me," Hall said during a press conference. He added that changes in HB 4580 make it clear there are increases in university funding through state grants.

Regarding the K-12 budget, House K-12 Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Tim Kelly expressed optimism about meeting or coming close to the July 1 deadline for an agreement. Kelly mentioned ongoing discussions with his Senate counterpart as contributing factors to this optimism.

State Superintendent Michael Rice voiced concerns over the lack of specific funding for Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in the House Republicans' block grant approach within their K-12 budget proposal. Rice emphasized that without dedicated funds, CTE programs would need to compete with other programs at local school districts.

Gov. Whitmer's FY 2026 recommendation includes $125 million for expanding CTE programs across local and intermediate school districts with limited access. The Senate Budget allocates $50 million towards this purpose, while no funds are set aside in the House's proposal.

Rice highlighted that additional investments are necessary over five years to expand opportunities for students facing barriers such as funding and geography from accessing career-tech programming.