LANSING, Mich. —Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday hailed the $81.7 billion budget she signed into law as a “balanced, bipartisan general government state budget” for Fiscal Year 2024 she said will “grow the economy, lower costs, deliver on kitchen-table issues and help anyone ‘Make it in Michigan.’”
The fiscal 2024 budget, when combined with the education budget previously signed by the governor, lowers costs on health care, preschool, meals for kids, higher education, housing, and workforce training. Additionally, the fiscal year 2024 budget will help fix bridges, replace lead pipes, and protect public safety.
“The Make it in Michigan budget will lower costs, deliver on the issues that make a real difference in people’s lives, and help anyone ‘make it’ in Michigan,” Whitmer said. “The budget protects public safety and improves access to health care, ensuring people feel safe in their neighborhood and have access to quality, affordable care that meets their needs. It supports our service members and veterans, connecting them and their families with the resources they deserve, and will build up all kinds of infrastructure so every family has safe roads, clean water, and affordable housing. Finally, it continues powering our economic development efforts to create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, and bring manufacturing and supply chains home to Michigan. The Make it in Michigan budget builds on our economic momentum, and will help us build a brighter future for everyone who calls this great state home.”
State budget director Christopher Harkins said the budget Whitmer signed funds programs and services that benefit residents across the state and saves money for a rainy day.
“This budget builds on the governor’s previous success of delivering targeted tax relief and delivers investments to improve the lives of the people of our great state,” Harkins said.
The FY24 budget totals $81.7 billion, including a general fund total of $15.2 billion. Among other things, the budget:
- Deposits $200 million into the Budget Stabilization Fund, or “rainy day” fund, bringing the balance to nearly $2 billion by the end of fiscal 2024, an all-time high.
- Makes critical investments to ensure Michigan families and access the care they need.
- $150.6 million to increase reimbursement rates for Medicaid services to improve enrollee access to necessary health care.
- $49.5 million to implement recommendations from the Racial Disparities Task Force, including neighborhood health grants, mobile health units, sickle-cell support and more.
- $25 million increase in support to local health departments to provide essential services.
- $10 million to create a new foster care respite care program to provide temporary, occasional relief to foster parents.
- $6.2 million to fund the Medicaid Plan First! Program, expanding access to family planning services and cancer screening and saving 25,000 Michiganders an average of $2,000.
- Keeps families and communities safe and ensures police officers and first responders have the funding and resources they need, the budget investing, among other things:
- $171.5 million in public safety grants.
- $34.2 million to enact various recommendations from the Task Force on Juvenile Justice Reform, including creating a Juvenile Justice Services Division within the State Court Administrative Office and expanding the scope of the Office of the Children’s Advocate.
- Rebuilding infrastructure by fixing nearly 20,000 lane miles of road and 1,400 bridges.
- To create good-paying jobs and bring manufacturing and supply chains home, the budget powers economic
Additionally, $26.7 million is included to provide a 5% increase (4% ongoing and another 1% ongoing to communities that obligate all available ARP dollars) in statutory revenue sharing to help counties, cities, villages, and townships; and new dedicated statutory revenue sharing funds, 2% one-time, for public safety initiatives; plus, an additional $64 million over current year funding in constitutional revenue sharing payments.
