Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Samantha Gibson and Jimmy Johnson of MAC
Topics: Michigan’s state government is likely to shut down at the end of Sept. 30 as legislators continue to wrangle with details for a fiscal 2026 budget year that is supposed to start on Oct. 1.
That was the view in MAC’s Lansing offices at midday on Monday, Sept. 29 as the association convened its Podcast 83 team for a quick update episode.
“I anticipate a government shutdown. I do,” said Deena Bosworth, MAC’s director of governmental affairs. “And I know that they're doing their very best to avoid it. But we've all worked on the inside, right? We've all worked in the Legislature at one point or another, and we know how long it takes to get bills drafted, to fly spec them, to have it run through the Legislative Service Bureau and have the numbers run by the fiscal agencies in the boilerplate put together and have that whole budget bill done. It takes a long time just for that process.”
And while the process remains in flux, Bosworth urged county commissioners to renew their contacts with legislators over the available money for statutory revenue sharing for counties.
“We've talked about this on our podcast. We’ve sent out action alerts. We've written about it in the Legislative Update.” Statutory revenue sharing,” Bosworth said. “The governor recommended a small increase … the Senate increased that even further … The House passed out their version of the budget, which eliminated the taxable value payment and decreased us back to around fiscal 2024 number … So, it was a 12 percent decrease on the House side.
“When you're talking to your legislators, please remind them that we provide services other than roads and public safety, and that we rely on that revenue sharing for those services, whether it be courts or jails or public health or, you know, juvenile justice … Tell your legislators about it, because we're trying to ensure that statutory revenue sharing stays where it is.”
See video versions of all Podcast 83 episodes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@michiganassociationofcount2606
Visit the Podcast 83 page at www.micounties.org
