State Budget Negotiations Begin: Contact Your Lawmakers Today

On Tuesday, the long-awaited Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal from the House was passed on the floor. As expected, the House Republicans issued a budget much smaller than what was proposed by Governor Whitmer and the Senate Democrats. House Bill 4706 totals $54.6 billion and coupled with the School Aid recommendations made in the spring, the total appropriations recommendation sits at $79 billion. In comparison, the Governor’s proposal totaled $83.5 billion while the Senate proposal came out to $84.6 billion. Overall, the House recommendations cut Medicaid spending by $3.7 billion, while the Public Health portion was cut by $92.5 million and Human Services was cut by approximately $1 billion. Specifically included in the cuts was funding for the MIDOCS program.

Now that all three proposed budgets are public, the House, Senate and Governor’s office will spend the next month negotiating a final Fiscal Year 2026 budget ahead of the October 1 start to the fiscal year. MAFP does not expect that the final budget will reflect what the House Republicans put forward, however it is very important to contact key lawmakers in the House and Senate and remind them of the importance of funding Medicaid services and the MIDOCS program to ensure that key funding items do not fall through the cracks throughout the negotiations process. If you have a question, please contact Chief Executive Officer Karlene Ketola, MSA, CAE.

Resources
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Medicaid is Vital to Michigan Fact Sheet
MIDOCS Fact Sheet