The Michigan League for Public Policy (MLPP) issued the following statement on the State of Michigan’s Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference (CREC) held today. MLPP president and CEO Monique Stanton shares:

“While revenues are coming in higher than expected for both the state’s General Fund and School Aid Fund, we are urging state lawmakers to keep in mind that there is a lot of uncertainty around how federal programs and funding will be impacted by the incoming administration at the federal level. Over the past few years, federal funding has made up more than 40% of Michigan’s budget, leaving our state’s economic standing particularly vulnerable if future cuts to federal revenue sources are made.

In these uncertain times, it’s critically important to remain focused on the people of Michigan and the things they need most. That means keeping kitchen table issues like healthcare and prescription drug costs, access to healthy and affordable food, strong education systems, child care access and affordability, and housing and utility costs at the forefront of budget and policy discussions in the weeks and months ahead. 

These are the issues that remain top of mind for many Michigan families, especially the approximately 4 million Michigan households facing financial hardship and could be just one emergency or missed paycheck away from severe economic decline. These are also the issues that remain critically important for the more than 2.1 million children in Michigan—nearly 1 in 5 of whom are living in poverty. Each and every child growing up in our state today needs and deserves to have a safe place to live, healthy food on the table, a strong education, and the quality early child care and healthcare they need to get a good start in life and grow up healthy and strong.

Given this morning’s projections, we also want to caution our state lawmakers not to heed calls for tax cuts, which we know will largely benefit the wealthiest Michiganders. Now is not the time to slash state revenues that are vital to helping communities flourish and to lifting up and providing stability for families who are struggling to make ends meet.”

MLPP recently released an overview of its 2026 State Budget Priorities, which have been developed by pairing community input with the League’s own data and research. The priorities are centered around what a state’s budget should value most: its people. For this reason, it is called The People’s Budget. The League urges state lawmakers and leaders to use The People’s Budget as a roadmap for their budget and policy decisions in the year ahead.