• Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference Shows Little Growth in Revenues
• Legislative Session Resumes
• Effective Date for Many Laws Coming Up
• Governor’s State of the State Scheduled for Jan. 24th, Join Us for a Recap
• Federal Government Once Again Running Up Against Budget Deadline

Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference Shows Little Growth in Revenues

The Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference met this morning to unveil its revenue estimates for this fiscal year and beyond. The Conference is made up of the House and Senate Fiscal Agencies and the Department of Treasury who together determine the numbers upon which to base the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 budget after hearing multiple presentations about the economy, revenues, and economic indicators. 

The Conference showed minimal increases over the last Revenue Estimating Conference, held in May 2023. State revenues have increased slightly but the theme of the conference seemed to be that the economy is stabilizing after the pandemic. Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for pupil counts as those will continue to decline by approximately 5800 pupils next year.

The School Aid Fund is expected to increase by about 2% in next year’s budget.  It will also start with a $525 million balance if those funds are not expended through a supplemental appropriation before June 30. While revenues for the General Fund were lower than expected for this year, next year it is projected to see about a 3% increase. 

The Governor’s office will now begin finalizing her budget and it is expected to be presented to the Legislature in early February. 

Legislative Session Resumes

On Wednesday, the Michigan House and Senate officially returned to session.  However, with the 54-54 tie in the House right now, we do not expect to see many votes from that chamber.  House Committees are expected to start meeting after the Governor’s State of the State address in January and work on the budget will begin after the budget presentation in February. 

The House will return to full membership after the special general elections on April 16 and we then expect things to happen quickly, including its version of the budget being approved. Meanwhile, the Senate’s business should not be affected as it did not see changes in its membership during the long break.

Effective Date for Many Laws Coming Up

The Legislature passed many bills related to education in 2023, some of which were not granted immediate effect and, therefore, will go into effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourned for the year, which occurred November 14, 2023. This makes the effective date for those bills February 13, 2024. We have compiled a list of new laws taking effect in 2024 that may affect your district. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Governor’s State of the State Scheduled for Jan. 24th, Join Us for a Recap

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will deliver her annual State of the State Address Jan. 24, 2024, at 7:00 pm. Join MASB on Jan. 25 at 4:00 pm for a Views From the Capitol webinar to recap the speech and what else to expect in education legislation this year. Please note the change in time from our normal format.

This interactive webcast allows viewers to ask questions and get answers instantly. We look forward to you joining us for this informative session! Register today to receive the link.

Federal Government Once Again Running Up Against Budget Deadline

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced they had reached an agreement to spend $1.59 trillion in Fiscal Year 2024. This is a flat budget and is a full budget, not a Continuing Resolution. The Federal budget should have been in place in October 2023 but has been operating under these resolutions.  

There are two dates to watch should a budget not be passed and the Continuing Resolution end. First, midnight on January 19. Funding will end at that time for Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, Veterans Affairs, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.  Second, midnight on February 2.

Funding will then end for Defense, Commerce, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services and Education. 

Passing a budget in the U.S. House will be a challenge. The 12 members of the House Freedom Caucus are requesting changes to the negotiated agreement. With the slim Republican majority in the House, Speaker Johnson needs all 12 members of that caucus to pass the budget.