LANSING — A budget approved Tuesday, Aug. 26 by the Republican-controlled House would cut spending across state government, including cuts to the Michigan State Police and payments to local governments.
When combined with K-12 and higher education budgets passed earlier, the House budget for the 2026 fiscal year would total nearly $79 billion. That’s more than $4 billion lower than the budget Gov. Gretchen Whitmer proposed in February and more than $5 billion lower than the budget passed by the Democratic-controlled Senate in May.
Major changes are expected to the GOP spending plan before a budget is finalized for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Between now and then, Whitmer and the two legislative chambers must agree on a single budget plan. That typically is the result of closed-door negotiations between the governor and legislative leaders.
House Republicans said savings from the cuts in their budget will result in an extra $3.4 billion a year to fix up local roads, without raising taxes. But opposition to specific cuts baked into the budget plan emerged quickly.
A significant chunk of savings identified through the House would come from elimination of what House Speaker Matt Hall referred to as “ghost employees” across state government agencies. In earlier reporting, the Detroit Free Press has identified how unfilled positions result in state government having thousands fewer employees than the number of “full-time equivalent” positions authorized in state budgets. But the House budget would also include actual reductions in the size of the state workforce, not just bringing funding into closer alignment with the actual number of state employees who have been hired and are working.
Significant cuts or other changes included in the House budget plan include:
House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri, D-Canton, said of the budget that “no responsible legislator could possibly vote for it, and we didn’t.”
The budget passed in a 59-45 vote, with only one Democrat, state Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, voting with the Republicans.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GOP state budget plan includes billions in cuts. Here’s what would get axed
Reporting by Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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