Insider Intelligence

Beginning in January, Representative Thomas Albert (R-Lowell) will serve as chair of the House Appropriations Committee. He was appointed as chair by Speaker-elect Representative Jason Wentworth (R-Clare).  Representative Albert is entering his third term in office. He currently serves on the House Appropriations Committee, serving as chair of the Corrections Subcommittee, and is a member […]

This week, the legislature approved of two bills resolving the $2.2 billion budget deficit for the current fiscal year and the Senate Appropriations Committee approved of an executive order reducing current-year spending. The plan utilizes $936 million in spending cuts and hiring freezes and most state agencies will see reductions, including the executive and legislative […]

A deal was reached this week to deal with the $2.2 billion budget shortfall caused by COVID-19 within the current 2019-2020 Fiscal Year budget. The budget agreement was announced by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey(R-Clarklake), and Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield (R-Levering). The deal relies on federal COVID-19 relief funding for […]

This week, the House unanimously passed legislation appropriating $880 million in Federal Aid in the response to the outbreak. The bill, which originated in the Senate, was returned to the chamber where they voted to concur in changes to the bill by the House. It will be sent to Governor Whitmer for her approval. Funding […]

Today the biannual Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference (CREC) was held, where it was agreed the state will have significantly less funds available when crafting the upcoming Fiscal Year budget. Today’s conference is a follow-up to January’s conference, where updated economic data is used to review, and adjust when necessary, the anticipated revenue to the state. […]

This week, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a $150 million a supplemental appropriations bill for the current FY. The legislation, initially passed by the House and Senate a couple of weeks ago, provided funds for a wide swath of programs, including some that the governor had vetoed out of the FY19-20 budget last fall. However, since […]

On Wednesday, the House and Senate voted to approve emergency funding to mitigate the impact of the Coronavirus in Michigan. The legislation includes $40 million for public health emergency response such as monitoring and testing, $50 million to support hospitals, nursing homes, and other critical health care facilities, and $35 million in other response activities. […]

After back and forth between the House and the Senate, the chambers approved of legislation providing $312 million in supplemental funding for the current fiscal year. The bill provides funding for several of the programs that had their appropriations vetoed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2019. Funding within the legislation includes: $25 million for state […]