Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s new budget plan will be formally presented to the Legislature next week, kicking off a seven-month slog to forge a bipartisan spending plan.
Whitmer is not expected to be present next Wednesday as Budget Director Jen Flood outlines proposals to fund K-12 schools, public universities, community colleges, local governments and state departments and agencies.
“Tune in on February 5 for specific details, but you’ll see a proposal that focuses on kitchen table issues like helping our kids learn, growing jobs, lowering costs, and supporting seniors,” said Flood in a statement emailed to Michigan Public Radio.
The current fiscal year’s budget totals $82.5 billion. The deadline for having the new budget finalized and signed into law is the start of the next fiscal year on October 1.
This will be the Democratic governor’s first budget rollout since Republicans won control of the state House in last year’s elections. The Senate remains under the control of Democrats, but the House majority puts the GOP in a stronger negotiating position.
House Republicans say they want to see more spending restraints and transparency this year on budget earmarks – line items directed to legislators’ pet projects.
The House adopted a rule Tuesday on a bipartisan vote to require all earmarks to be publicly disclosed online before they can be adopted. The deadline to disclose an earmark this year is May 1 and has to include the name of the sponsoring lawmaker and the intended recipient.
“If the project has merit, I think we should all stand tall and support it,” said Rep. Ann Bollin (R-Brighton), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee. “If it is on behalf of our districts, something in the state that we feel passionately about, we should have no problem making sure it’s transparent and available for viewing to the public.”
The Senate is not required to follow the House, which could make enforcing compliance with both the letter and the intent of the rule difficult.
Colin Jackson contributed to this report.
