Genesee News

State Rep. David Martin, R-Davison, supported a $56.6 billion state budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, approved by the Michigan House this week. The plan excludes education funding, which was addressed earlier with a $21.9 billion School Aid budget focused on classroom investments. Combined, both budgets amount to $78.5 billion—a 3.7% decrease from the current year's spending.

The House’s proposal funds roads, public safety, and key services without tax increases. This approach differs from the Senate’s $84.5 billion proposal, which includes an unfunded $3 billion allocation for roads and is not considered balanced by Senate fiscal experts. The Senate plan also does not account for expected revenue losses due to recent federal tax cuts.

“Michigan’s budget has ballooned in recent years, but the problems people care about most never seem to get solved,” Martin said. “This plan changes that. We trimmed the waste and focused on results, so families see improvements in their neighborhoods, not just more bureaucrats on the payroll in Lansing.”

According to details shared by Martin's office, the House budget eliminates what it describes as wasteful spending in several areas:

- Funding for unfilled state jobs: By cutting 4,300 "phantom" positions—jobs funded but left vacant—the budget redirects $560 million.

- Unspent work project funds: More than $6 billion allocated for work projects remains unused; of this amount, $2.5 billion will be redirected to pay off road bond debt.

- Programs deemed ineffective: The SOAR corporate incentive program and a statewide electric vehicle charging initiative have been defunded due to limited impact or lack of results.

Savings from these cuts are being used to prioritize programs such as local road repairs—with a new ongoing investment of $3.4 billion—and increased support for public safety through a newly established Public Safety Trust Fund with a $115 million allocation.

Additional measures include tax relief targeting working families and seniors through implementation of state-level provisions from federal legislation like eliminating taxes on tips, overtime pay, and Social Security income; as well as introducing research and development tax credits intended to spur economic growth.

Reforms in health and human services were also included in the House plan. The Michigan Medicaid program will seek greater use of generic prescriptions over costlier brand-name drugs—a change projected by the House Fiscal Agency to save between $125 million and $175 million annually. New requirements aimed at reducing food stamp fraud include implementing chip-enabled SNAP EBT cards and stricter oversight procedures.

“We made smart reforms to make sure taxpayer money is spent wisely, but we also made sure our most vulnerable neighbors are protected,” Martin said. “This budget guarantees essential services will remain available for the people who truly need them.”

The House’s approach also introduces new transparency requirements such as restoring performance dashboards that track departmental outcomes publicly; mandating reports on severance payments; and requiring disclosure of spending on long-term projects.

“People are tired of the backroom deals and bloated budgets of the past,” Martin said. “We’ve brought accountability back to the process, and we’ve shown that government can live within its means, just like families in Genesee and Oakland counties and others across Michigan do every day.”

House Bill 4706 contains these appropriations outside education while House Bill 4577 covers school funding passed earlier this year; both measures received bipartisan support in their respective votes. Negotiations continue among lawmakers over final details before enactment ahead of Michigan's next fiscal year beginning October 1.