Legislature Completes K-12 Budget – Other Budgets will wait until September
On July 13, Governor Whitmer signed into law a $17 billion appropriation for K-12 schools. The Michigan House and Senate presented the Governor with a budget that increases per pupil funding to a minimum of $8,700. For the first time since the passage of Proposal A in 1994, most schools in Michigan will receive the same amount of per pupil funds, closing a longtime gap.
The School Aid budget also includes a large increase for the Great Start Readiness Program. The program received an increase of nearly $170 million, and the full day per pupil allocation will increase from $7,250 to $8,700. While the budget did not include $5 million in current year funding for community organizations to provide before- and after-school programs, it did contain a $3.7 million line item for the YMCA Youth in Government program.
Work will continue on the remainder of the state budget, with the expectation that the Legislature will complete work sometime in September. We continue to advocate for additional use of federal COVID relief dollars for child care programs. Governor Whitmer has proposed using over $700 million in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan for grants to child care providers. The Legislature has not yet approved this recommendation. On a positive note, however, the Legislature did pass Senate Bill 27 on July 15 which includes $105 million in federal dollars to provide a 40% increase to child development and care providers retroactive to October 1, 2020.