The budget votes began two days into the start of the 2026 fiscal year, after lawmakers passed a stopgap budget Oct. 1.
The budget cuts many state agencies but provides about $1.1 billion extra for the Michigan Department of Transportation.
LANSING — Michigan lawmakers unveiled a long-awaited budget deal Oct. 2 that makes funding cuts to many state agencies while allocating an extra $1.1 billion to the Michigan Department of Transportation, which is responsible for fixing state roads and bridges.
The budget proposals totaled $51.8 billion for general government and $24.1 billion for education, for a $75.9 billion budget total. But a House Fiscal Agency report shows that total artificially reduced by the way billions in federal funding is accounted for, by moving Medicaid money to contingency funds where they are not included in the budget total. It’s not yet clear how the total topline number will compare to the 2025 fiscal year’s $82.5 billion total.
For the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2026, lawmakers have crafted a K-12 education budget that proposes almost $21.3 billion in school aid funding, which is up slightly from 2025, according to a Senate and House Fiscal Agency analysis.
The proposed school aid budget would increase the per-pupil funding grant from $9,608 to $10,050, a $442 increase.
Though the spending plans for general government and school aid were approved with unanimous bipartisan votes in conference committees charged with resolving differences between the House and Senate, prior to expected votes in the full House and Senate, questions lingered Oct. 2 about the fate of a controversial proposed 24% wholesale tax on marijuana, which is a key element of the road funding plan reached between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and lawmakers from both parties.
State Rep. Alabas Farhat, D-Dearborn, who served on the conference committee that sent the spending plan to the floor, kicked off a House vote on the general government budget with a bit of levity and a victory all lawmakers could celebrate.
“Among other things, the Detroit Tigers won today,” he said. He celebrated the spending plan, including tax cuts, road funding and social safety net programs. He said that it also provided proof that Democrats and Republicans can come together. While the budget is “not perfect,” he said, “it is what we were sent here to do.”
House Appropriations Committee Chair state Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Township, followed Farhat to say that the budget process reflected a different approach that included greater transparency and going through each spending item line by line, with the intent of rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse..
“We put principles and people first,” Bollin said.
The budget bill passed the House 101-8 and moved on to the Senate.
The proposed $51.8 billion general government budget finds savings in multiple departments. The comparable total for the 2025 fiscal year was $54.7 billion, according to the House Fiscal Agency. House Speaker Matt Hall has spoken out strongly against the unfilled state government positions, describing them as