Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the bills Tuesday that make up the new state budget.
The new K-12 education budget signing comes almost a month into the new fiscal year for school districts. Whitmer said she is nevertheless pleased with the final product. It includes universal free school lunches, literacy programs, expanded tuition-free community college, and a K-12 funding formula that boosts spending for districts with high numbers of at-risk students.
Whitmer said improving Michigan’s student literacy skills is a legacy issue that she hopes will outlast her administration. Her final term wraps up when a new governor is sworn in January 1, and she expects her successor will share that priority.
“We all want results for our kids and none of us is patient about it, nor should we be,” she said. “We want those results fast. But here’s what we know: literacy is a marathon, not a miracle.”
Whitmer signed the school aid bill at a school in Southfield surrounded by students, teachers, and legislative leaders. House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) said making changes to lift Michigan’s lagging student reading scores is a bipartisan win.
“We’re going to teach the kids phonics,” he said. “They call that the science of reading now and it works, so we’re going to bring that back and help get all of our kids reading, so they have opportunities in the future.”
The K-12 bill-signing came well after July 1, when school districts begin their fiscal years. The state’s fiscal year begins October 1, a target the governor and the Legislature missed last year, leading to problems for school districts. The governor also signed the budget funding the rest of state government on Tuesday.
That budget does not rely on new taxes or tapping into the state’s “rainy day” savings account, but it does make some targeted reductions in spending. Democrats celebrated averting cuts to safety net programs. But Whitmer said economic headwinds and federal cuts to Medicaid, food assistance, and other programs made balancing the budget more challenging.
Whitmer also said she is very concerned about the short- and long-term effects of the Trump administration’s new tariffs and shifting trade policies on the state’s economy.
“We are feeling the brunt of all the continuing fluctuation in tariff policy, the chaos that has been coming out of Washington D.C. since the beginning of this administration,” she said in a question-and-answer session with reporters after the bill signing.
As a border state, Michigan’s economy is closely entwined with Canada’s – especially when it comes to manufacturing and agriculture. Whitmer said new tariffs announced by Trump this week – some as high as 50%, set to take effect in about a month – are bad news for Michigan businesses and workers.
