Recently, the House and Senate Higher Education Appropriations subcommittees passed their budget recommendations for next year, tying funding to university performance and tuition cost restraint. We want to thank our legislative leaders for their commitment to make college more affordable for Michigan families.
The Senate Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee, chaired by Senator Tonya Schuitmaker, agreed with the Executive Budget recommendation and approved a funding increase of 6.1%. In a letter, Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville expressed his strong belief that this investment is critical for our state’s future prosperity. While the House recommendation was lower than the Executive recommendation, Chairman Al Pscholka and Majority Vice Chair John Walsh both indicated that this was the first step in the process and there was more work to be done.
BLM’s view: As the budget process moves forward, we are hopeful that the House and Senate will agree to fund our public universities at least at the level in the Executive Recommendation. We need a strong higher ed system to help strengthen Michigan’s workforce — for both young high school graduates and workers in need of retraining and development. The only surefire way of keeping higher ed affordable for everyone is to ensure strong public support. Please contact your state legislators and urge them to support the Governor’s budget recommendation for our public universities.