Updates About Budget

The Michigan School Safety and Mental Health Commission has released its final set of recommendations, urging lawmakers to increase per-pupil funding and address staffing shortages for school-based mental health and safety professionals. Formed in response to the 2021 Oxford High School shooting, the commission consulted with experts, educators, and families to develop ten recommendations aimed at strengthening mental health services and school safety statewide.

A key concern highlighted in the report is Michigan’s significant gap in staffing ratios of school counselors, psychologists, and social workers. Our state has just one school psychologist for every 1,500 students—three times higher than the ratio recommended by the National Association of School Psychologists. The commission called for a multi-year plan to meet national staffing standards and retain qualified professionals.

Additional recommendations include promoting trauma-informed practices, expanding social-emotional learning, and ensuring staff are trained to identify and respond to student mental health needs. The commission emphasized that effective change requires consistent funding, fewer policy shifts, and a long-term plan to grow Michigan’s school mental health workforce.

The Michigan Senate Appropriations MiLEAP Subcommittee has proposed a $736.2 million budget for the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential, including a $63 million increase to sustain child care services in light of declining federal support. The adjustment aims to maintain access to early childhood programs that have relied heavily on federal funding. Senator Rosemary Bayer (D-West Bloomfield) emphasized that child care is essential to Michigan’s economy and noted that the Senate’s proposal reflects a strategic response to federal funding uncertainty.

In addition to backfilling lost federal dollars, the proposal includes $23 million to boost payments to child care providers—especially those caring for infants and toddlers—as well as $40 million to support advance payments to providers in line with federal regulations. The budget also allocates $16 million for student service grants and calls for the creation of a Dual Enrollment Task Force to strengthen access to higher education.

The Michigan Senate Appropriations Health and Human Services Subcommittee advanced its version of the FY 2026 DHHS budget last week at $39.31 billion, coming in slightly higher than the Governor’s proposed $39.15 billion recommendation. Chair Sylvia Santana’s (D-Detroit) objectives include improving health outcomes for families while protecting essential services and preparing for potential decreases in federal Medicaid support.

Key Senate additions include $58 million for expanding Flint’s Rx Kids program, $13 million for water affordability initiatives, and $10 million for reproductive health access grants. The Senate also proposed smaller increases to Medicaid eligibility than Whitmer’s plan. The budget did not include funding for building a state psychiatric hospital in Northville or for health care services for incarcerated individuals prior to release. It also failed to include several items funded by opioid settlement dollars that were proposed in the Governor’s executive recommendation. However, the Senate added funding in areas such as permanent supportive housing, reproductive health access grants, children’s advocacy centers, non-clinical direct care worker pay, and medical debt relief.