Host: Stephan Currie
Guests: Deena Bosworth, Samantha Gibson and Jimmy Johnson of MAC
Topics: A fiscal 2026 state budget seems ever more distant, even as the start of that fiscal year and a possible government shutdown loom ever larger over Michigan.
That’s the assessment of MAC’s Podcast 83 team in its latest Legislative Update report from Lansing.
While all three players in the budget process (governor, House, Senate) now have advanced budget documents, the variances in them are massive and create far too much uncertainty for counties.
“We are not very happy at all with the House-passed version of the budget, especially when it comes to revenue sharing,” said Deena Bosworth. “And I want to be upset with many of our former county commissioners (now in the Legislature), but honestly, they didn't have time to look at this budget. The House budget skipped votes in subcommittee, skipped votes in the full Appropriations Committee. It was discharged onto the House floor, and they had an hour to look over this budget, which is, I don't even know how many pages, hundreds and hundreds … and they had an hour to vote on it.”
The House plan, in fact, would cut $35 million from county revenue sharing in FY26, as part of a bid to carve out hundreds of millions of dollars for road work.
It’s not all doom and gloom on budget particulars, so watch the full episode (recorded on Sept. 8) for details on public safety funding and more.
MAC continues to encourage county leaders to reach out to legislators to reverse the House’s bid to cut revenue sharing. Complete contact details can be found in our Advocacy Center at https://micounties.org/advocacy-resources/.
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
