- Executive Budget Proposal Presented to Legislature
- Follow Up on Federal Executive Orders Webinar
- Michigan House Announces Committees
- Governor’s State of the State Scheduled for Feb 26th, Join Us for a Recap
Executive Budget Proposal Presented to Legislature
On Feb. 5, 2025, State Budget Office Director Jen Flood and Deputy Director Kyle Guerrant presented Gov. Whitmer’s 2025-2026 budget to the Legislature. This officially starts the budget season in Michigan.
In her budget, she increased the per-pupil foundation to $10,000, a 4% increase. The proposal also includes 4% increases to special education, English Language Learners, rural/isolated districts, at-risk students, and ISDs. It increases the Great Start Readiness Program’s target full-day allowance to $10,577 per slot. It also eliminates the income cap and allows all 4-year-olds access to the pre-k programs, with preference being given to lower-income students first.
The school safety and mental health grants in Sec 31aa are funded at $150 million, however, her proposal also includes language requiring districts to allow a comprehensive state investigation of any mass casualty event in order to qualify for funding.
Finally, the proposal includes a new “SMART plan” focused on Students, Metrics And Results with Transparency. We are still working through the details of the plan, but it includes $250 million in additional funding for intervention strategies, best practices, and reporting for “support category buildings.” These are school buildings identified as comprehensive support and improvement schools, additional targeted support schools, and targeted support and improvement schools.
Appropriations subcommittees will now begin their work on the budget. We will have a more detailed breakdown of the School Aid Budget by relevant sections for your information available on our website soon. We urge you to continue to talk to your legislators about how this proposal will affect your district, other items that would be useful, and the timeliness of final budget decisions.
Follow Up on Federal Executive Orders Webinar
On Tuesday, MASB joined with MASA to provide a free webinar with AASA, the School Superintendents Association, to discuss the potential impact of the president’s education-related Executive Orders that came out the last week of January.
We are committed to sharing timely and accurate information as it becomes available. If you were unable to join the webinar, MASA has created a FAQ document based on the questions asked during the presentation. You can also view the presentation slides.
Michigan House Announces Committees
The House has announced its committees for the 2025-2026 legislative session. Here’s a look at the Representatives who sit on a few of the House committees that the Government Relations Team follows closely throughout the year:
The House Education and Workforce Committee will be chaired by Rep. Nancy DeBoer (R-Holland) with Rep. Rylee Linting (R-Grosse Ile) as the Vice Chair and Rep. Jimmie Wilson, Jr. (D-Ypsilanti) as Minority Vice Chair. The rest of the committee includes Reps. Brad Paquette (R-Niles), Joseph Fox (R-Fremont), Tom Kunse (R-Clare), Alicia St. Germaine (R-Harrison Township), Joseph Pavlov (R-Smiths Creek), Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth), Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park) and Erin Byrnes (D-Dearborn).
Rep. Tim Kelly (R-Saginaw Township) will serve as Chair of the School Aid Appropriation Subcommittee in the House, with Reps. Nancy Jenkins-Arno (R-Rollin Township), Greg Markkanen (R-Hancock), Timothy Beson (R-Bangor Township), Ken Borton (R-Gaylord), Carol Glanville (D-Walker) and Samantha Steckloff (D-Farmington).
A complete list of House Committees is available here.
There was one change on the Senate Education Committee for this session: Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) replaced Sen. Kristen MacDonald Rivet, who was elected to Congress.
Governor’s State of the State Scheduled for Feb 26th, Join Us for a Recap
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will deliver her annual State of the State Address Feb 26, 2025, at 7:00 pm. Join MASB on Feb 27 at 12:00 pm for a Views From the Capitol webinar to recap the speech and what else to expect in education legislation this year.
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.