- Michigan Senators Thursday signed off on a $88.1B budget
- The Democratic budget proposal includes increased per-pupil funds and drops Whitmer’s $800 million in new proposed taxes
- The move now sets the stage for formal, final budget negotiations after the Republican-led House passed its spending plan on April 23
LANSING — The Michigan Senate this week finalized an $88 billion budget plan that failed to include nearly $800 million in “sin taxes” requested by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to bolster Medicaid amid federal cuts.
In a series of party-line votes on Wednesday and Thursday, the Democratic majority approved a $25 billion education budget and a $63 billion general government budget that moves existing revenue to address Medicaid costs.
The Whitmer administration sought tax increases on tobacco, vapes and digital advertising to offset an expected multibillion-dollar hit from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025.
State Sen. Sarah Anthony, D-Lansing, said Wednesday raising taxes while “people are hurting” across Michigan may be “tone-deaf.”
“We have not contemplated new revenue, particularly those sin taxes the governor has put forward, but we’re open to that conversation,” said Anthony, who also chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“We want to be sure that we’re being mindful of what revenue options are there and whether they’re impacting working families.”
Related:
- Michigan House slashes U-M, MSU funding in $76B budget
- Gretchen Whitmer pitches $88B budget. What it means for Michiganders, schools
- Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer seeks $625M for literacy, tax ‘holiday’ for school supplies
The Senate’s $88.1 billion spending plan is slightly larger than Whitmer’s own $88 billion budget proposal. Both are significantly larger than the $78 billion budget approved last week by the Republican-led state House.
The votes set the stage for final negotiations ahead of a July 1 budget deadline. While there’s no legal penalty for missing that date, lawmakers have strived to meet it to give schools more certainty when crafting their own budgets.
The process is moving faster than last year, when lawmakers were forced to pass a stopgap spending bill and avert a state government shutdown after failing to get a spending plan to Whitmer’s desk before the Oct. 1 deadline in the state constitution.
The final budget will likely be smaller than those proposed by Whitmer or passed by the Senate.
Changes in federal funding have left Michigan facing a shortfall in Medicaid funding, and experts in July predicted that lawmakers will have $1 billion less than previously expected to build budgets over the next two years.
Still, the budget approved Thursday is “a statement of our values,” said state Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, who also chairs the Senate Appropriations PreK-12 Subcommittee.
“We are sending a very clear message to every student, every parent and every teacher in Michigan: We hear you, and we are investing in you.”
School spending increases
Per-pupil spending would increase from $10,050 to $10,300 under the education budget proposal Senate Democrats approved Thursday, keeping in line with Whitmer’s own recommendations for per-pupil spending.
The Senate also approved a 15-year weighted funding plan for Michigan’s K-12 schools in a bipartisan 23-14 vote.
Camilleri said the weighted plan would provide more predictable school funding to districts and help support Michigan’s at-risk students.
It’s something the state Legislature has included in the last three budgets, he said, but moving it as its own bill “locks it into state law.”
Other education highlights include:
- $150 million for district transportation reimbursements and increased Michigan’s Great Start Readiness Program foundational allowance to $11,290 per child, funding a total of approximately 68,000 slots statewide.
- Funding for Michigan’s cyber schools would decrease to 80% of the $10,050 per-pupil public school rate under the Senate’s proposed budget, giving cyber schools an $8,240 per-pupil spending amount
- A 4% increase for the state’s universities, a sharp departure from the cuts to higher education the House’s budget proposal features.
Funding for Selfridge
The Senate also passed a $1 billion supplemental spending bill Thursday in a 19-18 vote that contained $152 million for improvements at Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
That’s atop a $60.3 million already appropriated since the 2022-23 fiscal year. The Republican-led state House has also passed its own $152 million in spending for Selfridge in March.
In 2025, President Donald Trump announced the base would receive 21 F-15EX Eagle II fighters to replace a fleet of jets and a new fighter mission to protect Selfridge’s estimated $850 million economic impact and roughly 5,000 military and civilian jobs.
When Whitmer announced the mission last April, the now-named US Department of War said 20 of the jets would be stationed at the base beginning in fiscal year 2028.
As part of the supplemental spending bill to fund Selfridge, Democrats proposed withdrawing $350 million from Michigan’s Budget and Economic Stabilization Fund, commonly known as the “rainy day” fund.
That was a major point of contention for Republicans, who argued Democrats should not tap into the savings, especially not after spending down a nearly $9 billion budget surplus in 2023.
“Let’s stop robbing tomorrow to pay for today,” Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, said in a floor speech. Nesbitt, who is running for governor, proposed an unsuccessful amendment to block the withdrawal.
The Senate budget also included nearly $30 million in new revenues from proposed hunting and fishing license fee increases that House Republicans oppose.
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