Michigan’s new budget will channel $203 million toward increasing the compensation of public school employees, a move supporters are hailing as a win for the state’s teachers.
The Republican-led House and Democratic-controlled Senate approved the new annual funding proposal for state operations early Friday morning. It is expected to be signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the coming days.
Embedded within one of the bills was a provision to repurpose $203 million that had been previously allocated to provide financial assistance to educators who were repaying student loans, but which had gone unused.
Now, the dollars will be given to schools “to increase compensation” for employees and the pay bumps must be on top of “any existing compensation negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement” between a school district and union representing educators or support staff, according to the budget blueprint.
Sen. Darrin Camilleri, D-Trenton, said the $225 million student loan forgiveness program, authorized in 2023, didn’t work as he intended and he wanted the dollars to now be used for financial relief for school employees who are facing rising health care costs.
“It was important to put more money back in the pockets of our educators,” Camilleri said.
In addition to teachers, the new initiative will benefit a wide array of school employees covered by union contracts, including librarians, counselors, social workers, custodians, bus drivers and literacy coaches, according to the bill.
Camilleri, a former teacher and the top Senate Democrat on the K-12 budget, said it will be up to districts and local unions to negotiate how the money will be handed out.
There will likely be one-time payments to staff at some point this school year, Camilleri said.
Somewhere around 381,000 people work for K-12 schools in Michigan, according to state data. It’s not clear how many of them would qualify for the new compensation. If they all did, which is not likely, and everyone got the same amount, an individual would receive $532.
“It should be a good one-time bonus,” Camilleri said.
The Michigan Education Association, which represents school staff in many districts across the state, touted the $203 million allocation in a statement on the budget Friday.
“Most critically, it provides $200 million in funding to directly put money in the paychecks of public school employees — whose pay increases are being consumed by skyrocketing out-of-pocket health insurance costs,” said Chandra Madafferi, president and CEO of the state’s largest teacher union.
4th grade reading and writing teacher Stephen Taft, interacts with his students during a geology lesson in class at Riddle Elementary on Feb. 10 in Lansing. Educators across the state are poised to share a portion of $203 million in state funding aimed at boosting pay for public school employees and offsetting rising health care premiums. (Clarence Tabb Jr./The Detroit News)
Lansing — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called on the leaders of a fiercely divided Michigan Legislature to “work together” to approve a new budget Tuesday, 14 days before a deadline that could trigger a shutdown of state government.
During a 20-minute speech inside the Michigan Capitol’s Heritage Hall, Whitmer, a second-term Democrat who returned from a trade mission to Asia and Germany in recent days, made her most direct plea to lawmakers yet, amid a months-long budget battle.
She also appeared to pull closer than before to Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, who’s been in a political standoff with House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township.
“While we stand on different sides of the aisle, we all basically want the same things: Happy, healthy children, good-paying jobs, food on the table, safe communities and a strong future,” Whitmer said at one point. “That is our task at hand. Let’s get it done. Let’s get to work.”
The governor’s speech focused on economic turmoil facing the country and Michigan, contending that tariffs imposed by Republican President Donald Trump’s administration and the lack of a budget were both sources of uncertainty that were bad for residents, businesses and job creation.
“We must work together to get certainty here in Michigan,” Whitmer said.
Whitmer has previously touted her ability to work across the aisle, but there’s been little bipartisan cooperation in Lansing since Republicans won control of the state House last November.
Hall, who has prioritized trimming spending, and Brinks have struggled to agree on budget priorities and missed the Legislature’s self-imposed deadline of July 1 to approve a new financial plan for state agencies, K-12 schools and universities. The House didn’t pass its own budget proposal until Aug. 26, months later than the chamber normally would.
Now, Whitmer and lawmakers face a constitutional deadline of Oct. 1, when the state’s next fiscal year begins. Without a budget in place by then, thousands of state workers would likely be laid off, state parks would close, some daycare programs might shutter and liquor purchases could be limited.
Hall has frequently promoted his relationship with Whitmer, but he wasn’t present for her speech Tuesday. Instead, Brinks and House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri, D-Canton Township, were in the front row.
“I know that Leader Brinks is available and ready,” Whitmer said during her remarks. “My team and I are ready to go. We can still do this on time.”
The governor didn’t harshly criticize Hall by name but said she wouldn’t sign the $79 billion budget plan that House Republicans put forward that would bring large cuts to an array of state programs, including the Michigan State Police, the Department of Natural Resources, the attorney general’s office, civil rights operations and hospitals.
After the speech, Brinks said the Senate stood with Whitmer “committed to getting a budget done” but, she added, there were “delays and obstruction” coming from the House.
“The reality is Democrats … control of the Senate,” Brinks said. “Democrats control the governor’s office.
Of Hall, she said, “And he needs to work with us to come up with a compromise. If he is unwilling to do that, he is not doing his job for the people of Michigan.”
In February, Whitmer put forth an $83.5 billion budget for next year.
Both Hall and Whitmer have said they want to find $3 billion in additional funding for roads in next year’s plan. Hall would achieve it through redirecting money from other state spending, while Whitmer and Brinks prefer a mixture of cuts and new revenue, likely from some form of tax increases.
Also, Whitmer called on Tuesday for additional “job creation tools” to make it easier to build factories in the state, to retain jobs and to incentivize innovation.
Whitmer has previously championed a program she launched during her first term called the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) Fund to provide dollars to pay for cash incentives for businesses bringing jobs to Michigan and to prepare large sites for development.
A wide-ranging tax law Whitmer signed in 2023 provided $500 million in annual funding for SOAR over three years. This current year is the final one in which the funding is reserved.
“We have to do something to deliver more wins for Michigan because competition is fierce,” Whitmer said.
Brinks referenced SOAR’s expiration after the speech.
“It doesn’t mean that we should be without any tools,” Brinks said. “So that is the subject of some conversation.”
Brinks told reporters there is still a path to get the budget done on time. But, she said, she wants to see a “change in approach” from the House.
“Should that not happen, we will get our leadership team together and make some decisions about what the best course forward is,” Brinks said.
In a statement Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, who’s campaigning to be Michigan’s next governor, said he was glad Whitmer is “finally back from another taxpayer-funded trip overseas because the clock is ticking.”
“It’s time to lead Democrats to the bargaining table to pass a balanced budget that fixes Michigan’s crumbling roads and bridges, puts kids first by focusing on reading and math and respects taxpayers enough to not reach deeper into their pockets,” Nesbitt said. “Republicans have put forward real plans to do this.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer makes a point during her talk Monday afternoon. (GEORGE NORKUS–For The Macomb Daily)
In the wake of a shooting that killed right-wing firebrand Charlie Kirk on Wednesday at a Utah college campus, political figures in Michigan offered condolences while reflecting on the dangers associated with life in the public eye.
Robert Lulgjuraj, a Republican candidate seeking Michigan’s 10th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House, said he looked at Kirk as an “inspiration,” given that the two were less than a year apart in age (Lulgjuraj is 32 years old; Kirk was 31) and both are outspoken in their Christian beliefs and willingness to engage in discourse with individuals with opposing political views.
He called Wednesday “an evil day in American history” but said the killing wouldn’t affect his approach on the campaign trail.
“I assure you it’s not going to silence this movement or my campaign,” Lulgjuraj said.
The killing also won’t deter state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, in her campaign for a U.S. Senate seat. She called his death “chilling.”
“But we decided on our team that it’s all the more important we bring people together publicly — It’s the only way we get out of this as a country,” she told The Detroit News via text.
The shooting, which happened around noon on the campus of Utah Valley University, brought to mind the February 2023 shooting on the campus of Michigan State University that killed three students, said Josh Cowen, an MSU professor who is running as a Democrat to represent the state’s 7th District in the U.S. House.
“My first thought was, ‘Man, this happened at another campus, another place of learning and debate,” Cowen said. “(Kirk) was famous for going into places and having debates, and he was killed for that. With political violence on the rise in this country, we all need to take a step back and look at what’s going on.”
The deans of Michigan’s congressional delegation, U.S. Reps. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, and Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, issued a rare joint statement Thursday to say they were horrified by Kirk’s shooting and “deeply disturbed” by the rise in political violence taking place across the U.S.
“Silencing voices through violence erodes our foundational principles. Instead, we must do more to protect every American’s freedom to have passionate disagreement, rigorous debate, free expression, and an open exchange of ideas without the threat of harm,” the lawmakers said. “All Americans must do their part to stop the escalation of violence.”
News of the shooting broke while the Michigan House was still in session on Wednesday in Lansing. Voting stopped on the House floor for a time of prayer as House sergeants began closing shutters over the chamber windows as an additional security measure.
State Rep. Bradley Slagh, R-Zeeland, led a prayer from the House floor for Kirk and his family.
House Majority Leader Bryan Posthumus, R-Rockford, said the decision was made to end the daily session after the prayer out of respect for Kirk as well as safety concerns. He noted it was the first political assassination to occur while lawmakers were in session.
“We decided that’s what would make sense to do in this scenario,” Posthumus said.
State Sen. Jim Runestad, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, said he was “devastated” to learn of the fatal shooting.
“For over a decade, Charlie energized the youth of America at college campuses across the country, challenging students to dream big about their future, and inspiring generations of future leaders, legislators, and constitutional conservatives. His wisdom and dedication to upholding our constitutional rights will be dearly missed,” Runestad said in a statement.
Kirk’s killing unfolded less than a half-hour before a separate incident in which a student at Evergreen High School in Colorado opened fire at the school, injuring at least three other students.
End Gun Violence Michigan, a nonprofit that backs gun law reform, said the incidents share a commonality: easy access to firearms.
“It is simply far too easy for those who wish to commit heinous violence to access powerful weapons,” Ryan Bates, executive director of the gun control group, said in a statement. “Our leaders need to take action now to address the national crisis of gun violence before another tragedy strikes.”
The shooting comes amid a spike in political violence across the U.S. In June, a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband were shot and killed in what authorities have described as a politically motivated attack. Also that month, a man shouting pro-Palestinian slogans firebombed a Colorado gathering held in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Those incidents followed the July 2024 assassination attempt of President Donald Trump at an outdoor campaign rally in rural Pennsylvania. There was also an arsonist’s attack on the residence of Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish and had defended Israel’s right to defend itself in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas but who had criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s conduct of the war in Gaza.
“The wave of political violence gripping our nation is un-American, and unpatriotic,” Runestad said. “No American should fear for their life because of their faith or their political views.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, herself the target of an alleged 2020 kidnapping plot by political extremists, ordered U.S. and state flags lowered to half-staff in accordance with a Trump order.
“I am thinking of Charlie Kirk, his family, and the community at UVU after the horrific shooting that took place earlier today,” Whitmer said in a statement. “Political violence of any form is unacceptable and must be condemned.”
Other Michigan officials remembered Kirk for his unapologetic brand of activism.
On social media Wednesday, Walberg said, “No one has fought for free speech and challenged ideas on campuses like Charlie.” U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, posted “Rest in peace, conservative warrior.”
Senate GOP Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, called the killing “an act of terrorism, plain and simple.”
“People tried to shame Charlie,” Nesbitt said in a statement. “They tried to kick him off campuses so he couldn’t speak. And, finally, they tried to silence him permanently. Unfortunately, they did.”
Staff Writers Melissa Nann Burke and Beth LeBlanc contributed.
FILE – Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow speaks at the Democratic National Convention, August 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
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