A quarter of Grand Valley State University’s budget hangs in the balance as the Michigan Legislature barrels toward a potential shutdown. Long past a July 1 deadline, the two chambers are down to just a month to negotiate a finalized state budget. While University administrators claim to have mitigated uncertainty through careful financial management, what happens next remains to be seen.
While Michigan’s Democrat-led Senate passed its version of the budget in May, House Republicans only moved their version along Aug. 26. The latter proposes massive cuts to government funding, and is highly unlikely to go over well in the Senate, pushing negotiations dangerously close to the hard Oct. 1 cutoff. K-12 schools and universities started their fiscal years July 1 but are still uncertain of what funding will come through.
The state legislature is required by the Michigan Constitution to allocate funding for K-12 schools and many of the state’s 15 public universities, including GVSU. On average, state funding accounts for roughly 22% of all 15 budgets, 25% for GVSU specifically. A pair of K-12 and higher education budgets passed by the House in June provide an indicator of what House Republicans are seeking. Their K-12 budget looks to increase per-pupil spending, but would roll numerous services including school breakfast, lunch and mental health services into a single spending category. Their higher education budget would cut operational funding to the 15 public universities by $828 million.
Should a shutdown go on for long enough, it would be up to Governor Gretchen Whitmer to decide how and what funding is sent out. At a stop in Grand Rapids Aug. 25, Whitmer stressed that “time is running out” to negotiate. Whitmer nearly experienced a shutdown in 2019, when budget negotiations were pushed all the way to Sept. 25. Previous shutdowns have only been partial and lasted mere hours, while the possible issues that could arise from a full shutdown are unprecedented.
GVSU’s Board of Trustees (BOT) approved a budget July 11 with the 25% indicated in their expected revenue. As is typical practice, the BOT considered possible disinvestment from the state and federal governments, taking a conservative approach.
“We’re able to mediate a delay in anticipated appropriations because of how we’ve managed our finances,” said Assistant Vice President of University Communications Chris Knape.
University administrators refused to speculate further on a potential shutdown, but provided the Lanthorn with a statement from the Vice President for Finance and Administration and BOT Treasurer Greg Sanial.
“Grand Valley is on solid financial footing for the time being,” said the statement. “We have taken measured steps to minimize the impact of this anticipated delay in the state passing a budget.”
If the distributed funding, whether by budget or executive order, doesn’t match school plans, reactionary measures can be taken. According to Michigan Association of State Universities (MASU) CEO Dan Hurley, the first step taken would likely be a reduction in schools’ programs and services.
“It will be troubling and disappointing if a budget isn’t passed, and if there isn’t an increase in operating support,” Hurley said.
The House budget proposal passed Tuesday would greatly cut funding to a myriad of spending areas, including healthcare and DEI programs. It also seeks to eliminate “ghost employees” in state jobs. Michigan’s GOP believes government spending has been ballooning since COVID-19 appropriations, and has since adopted a DOGE-like mentality in response. With a much smaller budget than the Senate’s version passed in May, the two chambers have a month to bridge the $6 billion discrepancy.
“We need to get off the spending spree we were on when we were spending our grandkids’ money during COVID,” said State Rep. Luke Meerman, R-Coopersville. “I wasn’t opposed to all of it, just the last half or two thirds philosophically. It was $9 billion two years ago, so, of course the government budget has to shrink because the Feds aren’t giving it away anymore.”
Senate Democrats have deeply criticized House Republicans for stalling negotiations nearly two months when their budget was out in May. With the House budget in hand, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, ridiculed proposed cuts to education.
“Their budget decimates higher education, while Democrats are fighting to make sure that students can continue to benefit from the world-class programming our universities offer,” Brinks said in a statement provided to the Lanthorn.
Brinks said she has been “laser-focused” on passing a budget and avoiding a shutdown.
“This must be accomplished in order for universities to keep the semester going without interruption, and to prevent disruptions in student financial aid payments,” the statement added.
A major factor in the standstill is determining how the budget will approach road planning. One of the biggest priorities for House Republicans is a $3.4 billion investment into Michigan roads, which is in line with Whitmer’s budget plans. The Senate has yet to present a road plan. For Speaker of the House Matt Hall, R-Richland Twp., this has become a non-negotiable, while Brinks has expressed concern that it may stall funding for Michigan schools.
Hall did not respond to the Lanthorn’s request for comment.
State Senator Mark Huizenga, R-Walker, agrees with Whitmer’s sentiment. He believes the governor is amenable to negotiations in lowering the $3 billion road plan.
“My suspicion is that a successful compromise will likely be $1.5 billion,” Huizenga said. “If that were the case, I think the Governor would be happy with that.”
Road improvement has been at the center of Whitmer’s platform since campaigning on the issue in 2018. While some progress has been made, the condition of Michigan’s roads are still notoriously third-rate if you ask many residents. Whitmer may see an avenue toward fulfilling her campaign promise by working with the GOP, where her own party has lagged behind.
“The governor (started) working on a road package seven years ago and hasn’t had much traction on that,” Huizenga said. “The House was trying to put together a road funding plan that the Governor liked, but the Senate did not put together a plan that would do anything different.”
This partisan split has put Whitmer in a tough position, representative of an increasingly polarized political climate.
“You have a Democratic governor and Republican House who seem to be aligned on a roads package, but the Democratic-led Senate is not wanting to do what the House is doing for who knows what reason,” Huizenga said. “So there is a conflict with three entities and two different parties.”
Zachary Gorchow, president of Gongwer‘s Michigan operations, a news service dedicated to state politics, has three decades of experience covering Lansing. He most closely compares this standoff to the 2009 shutdown under Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm, when there was also a deep partisan split between the two chambers. Granholm had already overseen a shutdown in 2007. While economic conditions are far less severe than in 2009, there are many political parallels to be drawn.
“One chamber is in Democratic hands, the other is in Republican hands and there’s a Democratic governor,” Gorchow said. “There’s been some disagreements, maybe even a little bit of bad blood between the Democratic leader in the Senate and the Democratic governor.”
Whitmer will travel to Japan Sept. 5 for trade meetings. Sources report she will be there for two weeks while budget negotiations continue. If the standstill continues past Oct. 1, the state won’t have school lunches paid for by the government or a road plan.
“Stay tuned,” Huizenga said. “It’s going to be a wild ride.”
As budget negotiations become clearer during this tumultuous month, the Lanthorn will continue to report on what impacts GVSU community members can expect.
