In this episode, cannabis attorney Lance Boldrey joins the show. He chats with WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben about how the 2026 state budget affects the cannabis industry.

Plus, Republican gubernatorial candidates had their first debate this week. We discuss a notable absence and the major themes of the debate.

In this episode:

• How does the wholesale tax on the marijuana industry affect businesses of different sizes?
• Reviewing the first Republican debate for Michigan’s 2026 gubernatorial race
• Which gubernatorial candidates have raised the most money so far?

Cannabis in the state budget

The 2026 state budget included a 24% tax increase on the marijuana market. The tax will be applied to the retailer’s sales regardless of other taxes already listed in the line of items of any marijuana invoice.

Boldrey, who focuses on cannabis cases at the law firm Dykema, says small businesses will be hit the hardest.

“I think the folks that get the most negatively impacted are the micro businesses, which are the social equity part of the industry, which are people that come in as craft producers. They don’t have any wholesale activity at all because everything is grown, processed and sold in the exact same location.”

Boldrey says these micro businesses can’t make a wholesale purchase or a wholesale sale, but they will have a wholesale tax on their production.

Reviewing the gubernatorial debate

At the Republican gubernatorial debate this week, there was a notable absence from U.S. Representative John James, who said he would not participate in these debates until the field was more settled. As of now, James is perceived as the frontrunner, but there may be risk with his approach.

He’s already upset some GOP delegates mad by skipping a different event organized by the state party. If he does win the primary, he may have to win those delegates back heading into the general election.

Also, campaign finance reports were due this week from all parties. Republican John James, Democrat Jocelyn Benson and Independent Mike Duggan have raised the most from donors in their campaigns so far.

Even though Michigan’s 2026 state budget was already passed and signed into law, the drama continues as the Senate and House disagree about a bill calling for more transparency with enhancement grants known as “earmarks.” This week on MichMash, WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow explain what earmarks are and what role they play in the recently-passed budget.

Then, they sit down with Budget Director Jen Flood to dig into the details of what was included in the state budget.

In this episode:

• How are earmarks used in Michigan state politics?
• What went into the 2026 state budget? 
• How big is the 2026 state budget?

Explaining earmarks

There’s a long history of earmarks being used as a way for lawmakers to bring new projects and resources to their districts. Some have gone to organizations to carry out a specific function, and some have been the center of controversy.

The purpose of these new transparency bills is to establish earmark guidelines before the next budget season. This past season, earmark guidelines were being established at the same time as lawmakers were working on the budget.

Unpacking the state budget

Flood shared that there were a lot of obstacles to overcome when making the 2026 state budget.

“We had a lot of things working against us,” she said. “We had a divided legislature for the first time in 15 years, we were facing a road funding shortfall, and last summer, Congress blew a $1 billion hole in our state budget with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. And so we had our work cut out for us.”

Flood added that the budget includes $2 billion in road funding, which she says will protect jobs in the construction industry.

Michigan’s $81 billion budget opens with a promise to put more money into classrooms.

It raises per-student funding to record levels and keeps free breakfast and lunch on the table for 1.4 million children. It’s a lifeline for many schools after years of uneven pandemic recovery and shrinking federal aid. But those gains come as districts grapple with rising costs and teacher shortages.

Beyond education, the budget steers nearly $2 billion a year toward fixing Michigan’s roads and bridges. To help pay for it, lawmakers approved a 24% cannabis wholesale tax. That new revenue stream has already drawn a lawsuit from the cannabis industry, claiming the tax is unconstitutional because it alters a voter-approved marijuana law without the supermajority required.

The plan also trims vacant state jobs, pares back business incentive programs, and closes the SOAR fund that once grew large corporate deals. It adds $50 million for affordable housing and maintains funding for child care.

Bridge Michigan reporter Jordyn Hermani has been mapping the winners and losers in this deal. She joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss what this budget reveals about Michigan’s future.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

More stories from The Metro

Detroit officials have opened up a new section of the Joe Louis Greenway. 

About two miles of the greenway’s new additions are spread throughout the city’s west side, running from Joy Road to Chicago Street.   A sculpture of Joe Louis was also unveiled at the trailhead of this section near Grand River and Oakman.

District 7 City Councilman Fred Durhal says the greenway expansion will help bring city residents together. 

“What this project means for our community here is connectivity.  Connectivity to our lives.  Opportunity for our youth, for our seniors—all to come together in a healthy way.”

Mayor Mike Duggan also attended Tuesday’s event.  He says the greenway is making a visible difference in city neighborhoods, adding that the name of the project makes sense for Detroit. 

“Whose name could possibly be great enough—whose impact in the city could be great enough that would affect and do justice?  And it wasn’t a hard decision at all.  And so to recognize Joe Louis forever—as my friend Joyce said— “you named a hockey arena after him and you knocked it down, but greenways are forever.” 

Duggan says about 6 miles of greenway have been completed and another 6 miles are under construction.  The entire project, when finished, should cover about 27 miles. 

Additional headlines from Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick dies at 80

Former Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick has died. 

She served as one of Detroit’s representatives in Congress from 1997 until 2011.  Before that Cheeks Kilpatrick was a member of the state House from 1979 until 1997.  She was also the mother of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. 

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick was 80 years old. 

Whitmer signs budget  

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed the state budget into law. 

The $81 billion budget includes more money for roads, and a larger wholesale tax on marijuana.  The marijuana tax has been increased to 24% as part of a deal to raise funds for road construction and maintenance. 

In a video statement, Whitmer says students will benefit from the new budget, too. “We’re making a historic investment in our children, including the more than $10,000 per student investment to improve their classroom experience, free school meals for all to save parents more than a thousand dollars a year per child and make sure no kid goes hungry.”

State legislators failed to meet an October first deadline to get a budget to the governor, but they came up with a temporary plan to keep state government open while they finished up final details. 

Casino revenue update

Detroit’s three casinos brought in $98.9 million in revenue last month.  That’s down about 3% from September 2024. 

MGM Grand continued to hold the largest share of the Detroit casino market at 47%, Motor City had 30% and Hollywood Casino at Greektown had 23%. 

The casinos paid $16.1 million in wagering taxes and other fees to the City of Detroit in September.  They paid another $8 million to the State of Michigan last month. 

Tigers status 

The Detroit Tigers are fighting to stay alive in the American League Divisional Series. 

They lost to the Seattle Mariners yesterday 8 – 4.  The Mariners lead the best-of-five series two games to one.  That means Detroit will be eliminated if they lose another game. 

The Tigers and the Mariners play game four this afternoon at Comerica Park.  First pitch is at 3:08 p.m. 

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Michigan’s cannabis industry has become one of the largest in the nation. Last year alone, people here bought over $3 billion worth of legal weed, second only to California.

Now, the state wants to take that success and pave roads with it. State lawmakers just passed a new 24 percent wholesale tax in the state budget, set to begin in January. It will raise an estimated $420 million a year for transportation projects.

Supporters call it smart budgeting, “pot for potholes.” But others see a troubling shift: a young industry, still finding its footing, being asked to carry the weight of Michigan’s infrastructure.

The Michigan Cannabis Industry Association is taking the debate to court. It has filed a complaint arguing the new wholesale tax unlawfully alters a voter-initiated cannabis law under the state constitution.

Underlying inequalities

There is also a deeper tension. For decades, Black people in Michigan were nearly four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people.

When voters approved the legalization of recreational cannabis in 2018, it came with a promise: that the people most harmed by prohibition would share in the new prosperity.

This new tax could test that promise if higher costs push small, Black- and brown-owned businesses out of the market.

So today, The Metro explores these tensions and concerns through the perspective of people in the cannabis industry.

First, we hear from Jamie Lowell, a longtime cannabis advocate. He’ll help us step back and learn: how does Michigan’s market compare with other states?

Then we turn to Al Williams, owner of DaCut dispensaries, and president of the Detroit Cannabis Industry Association.

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More stories from The Metro

“Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value,” former President Joe Biden used to say. 

What he meant was that budgets aren’t just numbers on a page. They represent the things that we prioritize, the stuff we want expanded, and the work we want to shrink. 

The 2026 Michigan state budget took some time to sort out, but late last week a $75.9 billion budget was finally passed. 

Robyn Vincent spoke with Zach Gorchow, the president of Gongwer News Service Michigan to learn more about what the state budget reveals.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

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More stories from The Metro

When we started working on MichMash this week, it was past the Oct. 1 deadline and a state budget for the 2026 fiscal year had yet to be passed. In this week’s first episode, WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben speculate when a budget might get passed and what would happen in the meantime.

Then early Friday morning, Michigan lawmakers finally passed the budget — 3 days late. So in this bonus episode, Cheyna and Alethia discuss the details of the budget with Crain’s Detroit Senior Reporter Dave Eggert.

Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Michigan lawmakers pass 2026 state budget

After months of waiting and two missed deadlines, the 2026 state budget has finally passed. Michigan lawmakers agreed early Friday morning to add about $1 billion to road and bridge improvements, increase school funding, and decrease funding for some other programs. The budget also includes a new 24% wholesale tax on marijuana.

Now the budget is headed to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s desk, allowing her to finally fulfill her famous promise to “fix the damn roads.”

For more information and a breakdown of how this budget affects Michiganders, check out WDET’s political talk show MichMash. A bonus episode was released the same day as the budget to explain the details.

Additional headlines for October 3, 2025

District 3 residents organize “Stop the Violence” march

Residents of Detroit’s District 3 have organized a “Stop the Violence” march this Saturday (Oct. 4).

Alita Moore, executive director of the North Central Block Club Association, says the march is in response to a recent uptick in violence in the neighborhood.

“Our youth, our seniors, are very, very concerned. And so, before something like the National Guard comes in, we wanted to — on a local community level — show solidarity with our neighborhood police officers, with the people that work with us right here,” Moore says.

Moore hopes the event draws attention to a part of the city that feels neglected. The march will start at Farwell Recreation Center at noon.

Tigers advance; Lions prepare for Sunday matchup

Everyone is talking about the Tigers. Yesterday, the team beat the Cleveland Guardians in the wildcard round and is now heading to the American League Division Series, where they’ll face the Seattle Mariners. First pitch is tomorrow at 8:38 p.m. EST at T-Mobile Park.

Meanwhile, about four hours south of metro Detroit down I-75, the Lions face the Bengals in a Sunday afternoon matchup at 4:25 p.m. They’re coming off a dominant win against the Browns, 34–20. Their record is currently 3–1, putting them at the top of the NFC North.

Applications open for Detroit Legacy Business Project

Applications for the Detroit Legacy Business Project close on Monday, October 6 at 8 a.m.

This program is for businesses that have been serving the city for 30 years or more. Available grants include:

• One $50,000 grant
• Fourteen $15,000 grants
• Five $5,000 grants
• Ten $2,500 grants

For more information, visit detroit.gov/opportunities
.

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

“Let us pray,” intoned Senator Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) shortly after midnight.

She got directly and succinctly to the point with her morning invocation after the Senate gaveled in a new session day.

“Dear God, help us pass this budget,” she said. “Amen.”

And, with or without divine guidance, more than two days past the deadline, the Michigan Legislature very early Friday morning finally approved a bipartisan budget for the new fiscal year.

Anthony, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, acknowledged the rocky going between a Senate controlled by Democrats and a Republican-led House.

“I think there were a lot of missed opportunities to compromise in a civil way, but we did get there,” she said. “I just think it just took too long.”

The roughly $80 billion budget is about the same amount as the last fiscal year’s. It increases K-12 funding slightly, among other things, and cuts economic development incentives that were championed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

The budget will preserve universal free school breakfast and lunches, dedicate all sales taxes on fuel to roads, lift income taxes on overtime wages and tips and raise an estimated $1.9 billion annually for roads once it is fully implemented, which will take several years.

The state’s fiscal year began at midnight on October 1 and, officially the state was without a budget for a few hours until the Legislature adopted and Whitmer quickly signed an extension.

House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) said he does not regret missing the October 1 deadline to get the budget deal he wanted.

“I think this budget is really about value for the dollars, whether it passed before or after,” he said. “But I’ll just say that this year, if I had surrendered to the Democrats and allowed all that pork in this budget, the voters would not have preferred that budget.”

Democrats were equally chagrined and held Hall liable for deadline pushing and uncompromising demands. The shutdown, they said, was an avoidable embarrassment.

Keeping the budget in balance will rely partially on revenue from a controversial new wholesale tax on marijuana, with anticipated revenue pegged at $420 million. The debate over piling a new tax on the voter-approved legal pot industry almost stalled the budget.

Senator Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) said that level of revenue is an illusion as the new tax will likely drive a stake in Michigan’s legal marijuana industry.

“The more the public hears about this, the more the public hears about how this is going to drive a huge number of customers back into the illicit market, how this is going to turn away the money that’s coming into Michigan from other states like Ohio and Indiana, it’s getting less and less support,” he said.

Irwin said he thinks the new cannabis tax could be susceptible to a court challenge for running afoul of Michigan’s voter-approved initiative that legalized marijuana in the state.

The budget bills now go to Whitmer’s desk. With the extension, she has until Wednesday to sign them.

Updated 12:00 p.m. ET, Friday, October 3, 2025.

Funding for arts and culture grants in Michigan is preserved in the state budget for fiscal year 2026.

Last week, Governor Whitmer, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks and House Speaker Matt Hall announced they had agreed on a framework for the state budget and it would be passed before October 1. The state budget was passed early Friday morning, with state funding for arts and culture grants preserved.

Last month’s budget proposal passed by the Republican-led State House eliminated all funding for arts and culture grants from the state.

The entity that administers arts and culture grants for the state is the Michigan Arts and Culture Council (MACC). In 2025, MACC grants awarded totaled over $10.5 million.

The council distributes grant funds to arts and culture programs throughout the state, providing funding for things like K-12 arts programs, cultural festivals and museums.

To better understand what arts and culture grants from the state fund, Cary Junior II spoke with Lauren Ward, director of the Cultural Advocacy Network of Michigan. They spoke on Thursday, before the final state budget had been passed for fiscal year 2026.

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State and national budget updates

Michigan leaders have avoided a state government shutdown, even though the governor has not yet signed a budget by the midnight deadline. Lawmakers in Lansing reached the framework of a budget agreement late last week but released little information because many details had yet to be worked out. They’ve approved a bill to fund state government for one week to give them time to finalize their deal.

The federal government failed to reach a budget deal by its midnight deadline, resulting in a shutdown. About 30,000 federal employees live in Michigan, but it’s not clear right now how many might be affected. U.S. Mail service will continue as normal, and Social Security checks will be delivered. TSA agents will continue to work at Metro Airport because they’re considered essential workers, but they will work without pay. That could lead to longer lines at the airport. It’s not immediately clear what other service changes might affect Detroiters.

Additional headlines for October 1, 2025

Truck restrictions

The City of Detroit is announcing new restrictions today on truck traffic in Southwest Detroit. The area has dealt with semi-trucks traveling through neighborhoods for years to get from I-75 to the Ambassador Bridge. The travel clogs streets and adds to pollution in the area. The city says there will be new truck routes to keep commercial avenues freed up, and police will increase their enforcement. The new rules take effect on Monday. Truck traffic in Southwest Detroit should be further alleviated when the Gordie Howe Bridge opens next year. That structure will allow heavy trucks headed to Windsor to move directly from I-75 onto the bridge without traveling through neighborhoods.

I-75 cap

The Downtown Detroit Partnership is holding a public meeting tomorrow to discuss the future of I-75 downtown. The organization is working with the City of Detroit and the Michigan Department of Transportation to consider ways of connecting the downtown area to nearby neighborhoods. The collaboration is looking at the feasibility of placing a cap over I-75 between Third and Brush.

The plan calls for a series of parks over the freeway, which would provide space for residents, similar to the plazas over I-696 in Oak Park. The online public meeting takes place tomorrow from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. There’s more information at DowntownDetroit.org/i75cap.

Dodge Fountain

The City of Detroit is shutting down the Dodge Fountain in Hart Plaza for the rest of the year. The Construction and Demolition Department is working to make sure the structure is properly winterized so that no damage occurs during the cold weather. The fountain did not operate properly for several years, but it was repaired in 2024. The water will be turned off for the winter, but the city says the fountain’s lights will continue to operate. The fountain will return to warm-weather operations in the spring.

Tigers win on Tuesday

The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Guardians yesterday in their American League Wild Card game. Detroit pitcher Tarik Skubal threw 14 strikeouts for the Tigers. Game two in the best-of-three series is scheduled to take place this afternoon at Progressive Field in Cleveland. First pitch is at 1:08 p.m.

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Michigan lawmakers approved a plan early Wednesday morning to fund state government for another week as they finalize a spending agreement for the new fiscal year. The state’s previous budget had run out at midnight.

The extension buys more time to avoid a partial government shutdown, when non-essential services would stop running.
Passing a balanced budget for the next fiscal year by October 1 is a constitutional requirement in Michigan. State officials announcing the funding plan did not specify what legal tactics would be used to extend state spending without running afoul of the state constitution.

Last week, legislative leaders and Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the framework for a state budget deal. They hoped it would pass before the old one expired.

Speaking to reporters a little before 2 a.m. Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) said that agreed-upon deal still stands. But the details hadn’t been hashed out and it wasn’t ready for a vote in time to make the state’s constitutional deadline for adopting a budget.
“I think the important thing to remember is that we were able to come to an agreement even in a time like this with divided government. We will be keeping government services open. The people of Michigan will still be able to get what they need from their government for the next week despite this minor delay,” Brinks said.

The week-long spending plan totals roughly $1.5 billion. It covers funding for state departments, but not K-12 schools, which began their new fiscal year in July without knowing how much money to expect from the state.

Representative Bryan Posthumus (R-Rockford) said the holdup is unfortunate.
“It wasn’t the ideal situation. Would it have been better if we’d passed it on July 1? 100%. I wish we had. That’s something that we as a government, we need to be better at,” he told reporters after the House agreed to the deal.
“As drafting continues, I’m grateful to legislators on both sides of the aisle for their work and I am ready to conduct a final legal review and sign it into law after they send me the budget,” Whitmer said in the statement.

One of the next steps in the budget process will involve holding a Senate Appropriations hearing on each of the earmark spending requests lawmakers submitted under a resolution passed in the chamber on Monday.

The process also could involve holding votes to pass road funding legislation that the Republican-led House and Whitmer had pushed for this entire process. A part of that road funding deal, which would raise taxes on marijuana sales, could see opposition from at least some members of the Democratic Senate majority.

Regardless, Brinks said staff will still have much more work to do on the backend, even after final details of the budget plan get worked out.
State Representative Jim DeSana (R-Carleton) said this has been a very frustrating budget process.

“You could even say it’s broken and that representative government is really not working for the people right now,” DeSana said.
A statement from Whitmer’s office released shortly after 4 a.m. said she had signed the spending extension into law. “The continuation budget keeps state government open as the budget is finalized and passed by the legislature, ensuring Michiganders have uninterrupted access to government services, and state employees continue to get paid,” the statement said.

The government funding extension will last until October 8.

Negotiations continue in Lansing in an effort to complete a state budget before an October first deadline.  Failure to do so would mean a partial government shutdown. 

Such an action could prompt a closure of state parks, including Belle Isle.  Secretary of State offices could close, and even Detroit’s casinos could be affected. 

The state has not yet said what its plans are if next week’s deadline is not met.  Democrats and Republicans have not been able to reach a deal on key issues such as road funding. 

Additional headlines from Wednesday, September 24, 2025

Flood Watch 

The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties until Wednesday evening.  Steady rain is expected and could possibly be heavy at times. The weather service says some areas upstream could see one to four inches of rain. 

If you’ve experienced flooding in your area in recent months, it might be a good idea to check your basement periodically over the next few days.  Make sure to place important items out of reach of possible flood waters. 

Kimmel returns

Detroiters got a chance to see the Jimmy Kimmel show again last night.  WXYZ-TV aired the program. 

Kimmel’s show was suspended last week after the late-night comedian make remarks concerning political reaction to the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.  In response, several stations around the country decided not to air the show and the ABC network followed suit. 

The network says it temporarily suspended the show to keep from inflaming a delicate situation.   Kimmel said last night that he did not mean to make light of Kirk’s death. 

Kimmel’s show airs in Detroit weeknights at 11:30 p.m. on WXYZ-TV. 

Tigers collapse 

The Detroit Tigers are looking like they may have a hard time making the Major League Baseball playoffs. 

At one point during the summer, the team had a 14 game lead in the American League Central.  But now Detroit is on a seven-game losing streak, and has lost 9 of its last 10 games. 

Cleveland beat the Tigers 5 – 2 Tuesday night, allowing the Guardians to grab a share of first place in the division.  The Tigers and Guardians play again tonight and tomorrow in Cleveland. 

There are just 11 games left in the regular season. 

Lions celebrate victory

And the City of Detroit continues its celebrations after the Lions’ win on Monday Night Football this week.  The team posted a decisive 38 – 30 victory over the Baltimore Ravens.  After the game, Lions quarterback Jared Goff praised the team’s tenacity. 

“It was a good representation of what we want to do and I thought again being able to kind of springboard off of that last week and do it again –in a different fashion, though.  More running the ball.  More ground and pound.  Obviously, D-Mo having the night he had is incredible.  I think we displayed that we can win in different ways.” 

“D-Mo” is running back David Montgomery, who ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the victory.  The Lions now have a record of two wins and one loss. 

They host the Cleveland Browns at Ford Field on Sunday afternoon.  Game time is 1 pm. 

If there’s something in your neighborhood you think we should know about, drop us a line at DetroitEveningReport@wdet.org.  You know how much we love hearing about Detroit 

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

With less than two weeks until the budget deadline, there is still no state budget in sight. In this episode of MichMash, host Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben break down what could still be done before October 1.

They sit down with State Senator Sarah Anthony, the Senate Appropriations chair, as well as State Representative Ann Bollin, the House Appropriations chair, to hear the game plan for the remainder of the month.

Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In 2020, 15 Republicans tried to cast Michigan’s electoral votes for President Trump, even through President Biden won the state by 154,000. In this episode of MichMash, WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow break down how the legal case against these electors unraveled.

Then, Executive Director of the Michigan Association of Counties Steve Currie joins the show to talk about how the state budget affects local governments.

Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Michigan mass transit agencies are waiting to find out how much money they will get from the state in 2026.

Lawmakers have until October 1 to approve a budget and send it to Governor Gretchen Whitmer to sign.

Transit proposals are similar

The governor, the state House, and the state Senate have all approved $226 million for local bus operating revenue. The House budget proposal adds $60 million in new revenue for transit systems that serve more than 100,000 people. The Senate plan includes $15 million in new funding.

The Michigan Public Transit Association analyzed all three budget plans. It says bus systems would lose an average of 5 or 6 percent in state funding if the $226 million figure is approved.

SMART, Southeast Michigan’s regional bus service, gets about a quarter of its funding from the state. General Manager Tiffany Gunter says the governor’s proposal would cost SMART about $8.6 million.

“We obviously don’t know where those cuts would come from directly today,” Gunter says. “This would have a horrible effect on the region’s ability to move mobility forward.”

Cuts jeopardize improvements

Gunter, who became SMART’s GM in August, says state budget cuts threaten plans to improve customer service. That includes expanding the Flex program, which lets people in about a dozen communities schedule shuttle rides seven days a week.

“We wouldn’t be able to move forward with those improvements to the service and those enhancements, because we just wouldn’t have the funding to do so,” she says. “We’d be looking at areas where we could pull back service instead.”

While the House proposal is more generous than either Whitmer’s or the Senate’s, Gunter says the devil is in the details. To get a share of the extra $60 million, a transit system must get at least 10% of its revenue from rider fares. Gunter says SMART’s farebox recovery ratio is 4%.

“43% of our riders are either seniors or people with disabilities, and those individuals pay a half fare,” she says.

Most funding comes from regional tax

60% of SMART’s revenue comes from a regional transit millage, which enables the agency to offer fare discounts.

Gunter says her goal is to ensure that SMART buses are safe, convenient, and reliable.

“We’re not just moving people here,” she says. “We know that what we do every day gives people access to opportunity.”

SMART says it carries an average of almost 11 million riders per year.

As Michigan schools return to classes this week, the uncertainty of the state budget is causing some schools to cut programs just in case there are any issues with funding. In this episode of MichMash, Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow and Alethia Kasben discuss what needs to be done in order for the legislature to make the October 1 deadline.

Then, Robert McCann, Executive Director for the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, joins the show to talk about how the uncertainty of the budget is affecting school districts.

Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode: 

• How is budget uncertainty affecting schools across Michigan?
• How do educational benchmarks affect school budgets?

Michigan’s state government could shut down in about a month unless lawmakers reach a deal on a new budget.

The negotiations between House Republicans and Democratic senators and Governor Gretchen Whitmer have reportedly been tense.

Senate Democrats approved a budget proposal in May.

House GOP members recently passed their budget plan.

House Speaker Matt Hall says one of the major priorities for Michigan is finding a new source of revenue for road infrastructure.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length

Matt Hall, Speaker of the House: We’re going to have a major cliff in our road funding coming very soon as the governor’s borrowing runs out. She’s borrowed billions of dollars and kind of kicked the can down the road on road funding. A lot of the federal money is running out. A lot of that was from the COVID-19 pandemic, the big infrastructure money.

We got a letter from the Whitmer administration, the transportation department and the labor department. What they told us is if we do nothing, 8,000 Michigan workers are going to lose their jobs because there’s not any more road building or bridge building to do.

I looked at this and said, “wow, this is bigger than any economic development project that Whitmer has done.” We said not only could we create jobs and save jobs if we invested in roads, but we hear from all of our constituents that there’s many bridges that need to be fixed and particularly local roads need to be fixed.

We saw Gov. Whitmer win her election campaigning on fixing the roads. So we said, what if instead of growing all these departments of government, if we invested in roads? I looked at some of these departments and they’ve increased a lot since Whitmer became governor. What I realized is they had the money the whole time to fix the roads. Instead they spent it growing state government departments. So we put together a plan to fund the roads, put the $3.4 billion that are needed to fix the roads in permanently.

And according to Whitmer’s administration, that’ll create over 20,000 jobs a year. So we’ll save the 8,000 jobs and we’ll create 20,000 jobs, and the citizens will benefit because they’ll get good bridges and good roads.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: There are some critics that say they’re concerned about some of the cuts you propose in the budget. For instance, those affecting the Michigan State Police and Health and Human Services. I’ve heard some medical officials say they fear your budget makes big cuts in state funding for hospitals and could force some of the smaller rural ones to close. What’s your reaction to those comments?

MH: The hospitals, they lie. These hospitals make record profits year after year after year and they charge a lot of money to people. But the fact is our budget funds rural hospitals $250 million. We appropriated $250 million for rural hospitals.

When you’re changing the status quo, when you’re eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in government, the special interests complain. That’s why nobody’s done it before. We identified $5 billion of waste, fraud, and abuse in this state budget. We found 4,300 ghost employees in the state government. Those are positions that have been unfilled for years. It amounts to $500 million a year. And they squirrel this away year after year after year. That’s why there’s $6 billion sitting in bank accounts for state government at the end of the year. If they don’t spend the money they get to keep it. They put it in a bank account and that’s why they inflate the size of these budgets.

We said, let’s take half of that $6 billion, pay off the governor’s borrowing, and we can put another $330 million a year into roads. So we’re trying to make better use and get value for tax dollars out of this budget.

The state police have had hundreds of unfilled positions for years and years and years. They’re never gonna fill these positions. And what they do is they keep the money. They create all these positions, the politicians fund it and it just sits in these bank accounts. It’s part of the $6 billion I talked about. So when we’re saying why don’t we give you the money you’re actually gonna spend, that’s not a cut. That’s a better use of tax dollars.

When you’re changing the status quo, when you’re eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in government, the special interests complain.

What Democrats are saying is let’s keep the 4,300 ghost employees. Let’s keep these departments where they are. There’s no waste, fraud, and abuse in government. We’re gonna raise all your taxes next year.

We’ve demonstrated we have the money to do this without raising taxes. We just have to spend it better and that’s what the House budget does.

QK: We’re in the school season now. Some school officials have talked about not knowing how much money they’re gonna have to spend one way or the other. Where does the school budget stand in terms of state funding?

MH: My hope is that we resolve the school budget first. Along with roads, I’d like to see us get a school budget done early in our process.

We passed a school budget months ago. It’s been sitting in the Senate. We tried to come to agreement by the statutory deadline, July 1st. Democrats walked away from that negotiation.

We put up for a vote a legislation that says if the politicians don’t get a budget done on time, then they don’t get paid. The politicians here do not have enough skin in the game and sense of urgency to get these budgets done early. And as a result, they shouldn’t get paid. We put that up for a vote, the Democrats voted no and it failed. Now we’re back having conversations. They resumed when the governor and I and [Senate Majority Leader Democrat] Winnie Brinks met. I hope we can resolve our differences and get an education budget done.

We’re trying to restore funding that the Democrats cut for school safety and mental health. Even for private schools. You saw what happened in Minnesota. We want to fund a school resource officer in every school district and restore the mental health and school safety funding. And then we want to empower our local districts to make the decisions that they need to instead of Lansing politicians telling them how to spend their money.

QK: In terms of the Michigan Senate, an issue that interests a number of people in the metro Detroit region is that the senate recently passed a plan to raise tipping fees for waste disposal. They were trying to limit some toxic material from coming into disposal sites. What’s your view of raising those tipping fees?

MH: The Democrats tried to move legislation last year to raise taxes on everyone’s trash. If you raise taxes on the trash companies and their costs go up, they’re passing those taxes onto the customers, right? The Democrats didn’t even have the votes to get this done when they controlled the House, Senate, and the governor’s office. So now that the Republicans are in control of the House, I don’t expect that you’ll see us move it. It’s a lot to ask for a $200 or $300 tax increase on a service that people need to have.

QK: At the moment it seems the House and Senate budget proposals are still billions of dollars apart. There has to be a state budget finalized in about a month or risk a government shutdown. In your view, how realistic is it that Michigan could be getting close to a government shutdown?

MH: Right now, the Senate Democrats are not moving forward in a manner of really looking at the budget and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. What they want to do is just add 4% on what we did last year and call it good.

At the end of the day, there’s a lot of alignment between Gov. Whitmer and the House Republicans. We want to fix the roads, we want to invest in schools and we support public safety. So my hope is that she gets the legislative Democrats in line, they empower her as their leader, and she negotiates a deal with us.

Once they do that, we’ll be done in about two weeks. Right now, what you see is a lot of these legislative Democrats are kind of following the model of this New York City mayor candidate, [Zohran] Mamdani. They are buying into rhetoric like that from [Michigan U.S.] Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed when he says we should take the Republicans and bring them down into the mud and choke ’em out.

You see Gov. Whitmer embracing President Trump and trying to lead the Democrat party in a more cooperative and bipartisan direction. I hope the Democrats in the Senate empower Gov. Whitmer and support her because then we’ll get a deal done very fast. But if they go the route of this Mamdani, the direction that they are heading, then I think it’s going to be a real challenge to get a budget done.