Advocacy News – June 29, 2021
Even though the House Appropriations Chair had to abruptly leave the session to be at the hospital for the birth of his twins, the House today passed a $48 billion fiscal year budget that was negotiated and has the backing of the Governor. With a July 1 deadline to enact the next fiscal year’s budget, this development is a positive step forward.
While budget negotiations over the last several months might have appeared a bit rocky, the Michigan Chamber is encouraged to see the House and Governor set aside their differences and agree on a budget that will ensure our state’s financial position is stabilized, paving the way for future discussions on how to spend nearly $10 billion in federal pandemic relief funds. The budget passed yesterday is basically the same as last year with marginal increases across the board.
The Chamber agrees that passing the fiscal year 2022 budget without federal relief funding is a smart move. Federal relief spending is one-time money that should not be incorporated into the State’s fiscal year budget. If federal money was mixed into the State’s fiscal year budget, the opportunity to spend one-time dollars on ongoing programs increases substantially. With the State’s fiscal health being strong, there is no rush to spend federal relief money. Once the fiscal year budget is approved, lawmakers and the Governor can shift their focus toward spending federal relief dollars in a thoughtful manner on proposals that will strengthen Michigan’s long-term financial position.
The Michigan Chamber hopes the Senate can act quickly and approve next year’s fiscal year budget and move on to other pressing matters facing our State.
For more information on the budget that passed the House today, please contact Dan Papineau at dpapineau@michamber.com.