LANSING, Mich. — It's budget season at the state Capitol, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer is set to give her recommendations presentation on Wednesday for the upcoming fiscal year.
Many of the things she is expected to focus on were talked about in her State of the State address.
The presentation will happen in a joint meeting with the House and State Appropriations Committee and comes just two weeks after the governor outlined several of her priorities.
They include making the first two years of community college tuition-free for all high school graduates in our state and free Pre-K for all four year olds.
Governor Whitmer highlighted "Pre-K For All" on Monday, when she stopped by Burton Elementary School in Grand Rapids.
We're told universal Pre-K will save parents roughly $10,000 in child care fees.
Governor Whitmer says it's a priority before she leaves office, especially as funding for the proposal was received two years early.
As said in her address, it's all part of her goal to lower the cost of living in Michigan, with a $1.4 billion pledge for the free Pre-K for all four year olds in addition to rebates for buying a new car and to build or rehabilitate 10,000 new homes.
Also expected in Wednesday's spending plan presentation is funding to make the first two years of community college in Michigan tuition-free for every high school graduate.
Some Republican lawmakers and other critics are worried about how these will be paid for, like State Representative Bryan Posthumus, who said after the governor's State of the State address, she had "already blew through the $9 billion surplus".
This is just the beginning stages for the 2024/2025 state budget. It must be agreed upon and adopted before the start of the new fiscal year on October 1.
