Kalamazoo Times

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently proposed a massive $67 billion state budget for fiscal year 2022, which is the largest-ever executive budget proposed in Michigan, according to Bridge Michigan.

Whitmer claims that the proposed budget would “keep Michigan on the road to recovery” as the state tries to bounce back from the continuing effects of the COVID-19 health crisis.

Included in the budget are provisions that would offer a wage hike for direct care workers, extend a college tuition and job training program for frontline workers, fund repairs for local bridges and dams, expand child care subsidies, fund criminal justice reforms, provide additional K-12 public school spending and give districts more money to address learning losses associated with the past year of virtual learning.

Rep. Thomas Albert | Michigan House Republicans

“I'm confident that we can come out of this crisis stronger than ever before,” Whitmer told reporters in a Zoom conference call, according to Bridge Michigan.

The proposed budget is supported by one-time federal stimulus and COVID-19 response funding, which has kept the state economy afloat amidst the pandemic.

“Because of the (fiscal) management we had at the beginning of the pandemic, we now have an opportunity to invest in our state,” Budget Director Dave Massaron told lawmakers in a joint hearing of the House and Senate appropriations committees. “And I want to really stress: This is an opportunity that is really unparalleled in the recent history of the state.” 

Whitmer proposed her 2022 budget amid a standoff with the Republican-led Legislature over a supplemental spending plan for the current fiscal year, and the Legislature will almost certainly reject or modify some of the spending initiatives.

"We must remember that state tax revenues are declining sharply; our finances are propped up by artificial and temporary federal COVID relief," House Appropriations Chair Rep. Thomas Albert (R-Lowell) told Bridge Michigan. "It’s not sustainable. The state budget won’t be truly healthy until Michiganders can get back to work. Families and job providers have had to tighten their budgets during this pandemic; this is no time to go on a spending spree with taxpayer dollars."