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State Budget Office unveils governor’s $74.1b budget proposal

Gretchen Whitmer
flickr.com

State Budget Office unveils governor’s $74.1b budget proposal

The governor’s office outlined its 74-billion-dollar budget proposal for the next fiscal year today.

Roughly a quarter of the record-breaking spending plan would go toward K-through-12 education.

State Budget Director Christopher Harkins says the budget would help keep kids learning in-person through school infrastructure spending.

“We see that five percent increase year-over-year in per-pupil amount certainly helps to ensure that we’ve got resources dedicated to our students in their classrooms.”

But House Appropriations Committee chair Thomas Albert says the governor needed to be pushed on in-person learning.

“Last March, we tied school dollars—you had to have a minimum amount of in-person learning. So, this is something that we have beating the drum for in the Legislature for over a year now.”

The budget sends over two-billion-dollars toward teacher retention and recruitment.