House Appropriations subcommittee reviews governor—s FY 2026 general government budget recommendation

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government heard a detailed presentation on the governor—s fiscal year 2026 general government recommendation Tuesday, including an overview of department budgets, restricted funding streams and several one-time proposals.

Michael Knossen, senior fiscal analyst at the House Fiscal Agency, told the panel the general government package totals about $5.2 billion gross, with roughly $1.8 billion for revenue sharing and large portions funded through interdepartmental grants (IDGs) and restricted funds. Knossen said approximately $1 billion of IDGs flow to the Department of Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB) for centralized IT services and that general government represents about 5 percent of the state—s adjusted gross budget and about 8 percent of the general fund share.

Knossen outlined department-level highlights, including a roughly $130 million Attorney General budget that is nearly half supported by IDGs and restricted funds for legal services to other agencies; a Department of Civil Rights budget that is about 90 percent general fund and was expanded in recent years to address a complaints backlog; DTMB—s roughly $1.8 billion budget dominated by IDGs and proposed IT investments; and Treasury—s role in distributing $1.8 billion in revenue-sharing dollars to local governments.

The presentation singled out several one-time and ongoing proposals in the governor—s recommendation: a requested additional $50 million deposit to the Budget Stabilization Fund (rainy day fund), $25 million for state facility maintenance and demolition projects, $1 million for state fleet electric vehicle transition planning, and several Information Technology Investment Fund (ITIF) requests including large projects for unemployment insurance system replanning and a Human Resource Management Network replacement. Knossen said the governor—s ITIF recommendation is among the largest since the state—s Sigma project and includes a $20 million allocation for replanning the unemployment insurance system (MIDAS) and about $23.5 million for the civil service—Human Resource Management Network (HERMAN) replacement.

Knossen also reviewed the Make It in Michigan Competitiveness Fund, noting prior deposits totalling roughly $337.8 million and an available balance of about $128 million as of January; he said about $202 million of those dollars had been committed to projects. He identified a programmatic risk: an executive order at the federal level paused some federal disbursements tied to IIJA, IRA and CHIPS funding streams, which could affect the ability to draw federal match for projects the state has committed to support.

Committee members asked for follow-up information on several matters. Representative Brett Maddock and others requested the number of civil rights complaints and how many result in litigation; Representative Matic asked the fiscal analyst to investigate recent increases in salary levels for certain executive-level (level 15) positions across departments; and Representative Snyder asked for a list of projects that would be funded by the proposed $25 million in one-time maintenance dollars. Members also asked the Attorney General—s office for updated reports on outside counsel spending and for boilerplate materials that would improve transparency of program-level spending.

Knossen said work projects are typically valid for four years and that DTMB manages hundreds of active IT projects (he cited 261 active IT projects as of February). He explained the TAC (transportation administration collection) fund shortfall was addressed by a $4 fee increase for bulk record sales, which generates roughly $20 million a year and has improved the TAC fund—s carryforward balance.

No formal votes or motions were recorded during the meeting. The subcommittee scheduled follow-up hearings on boilerplate language and asked staff to provide specific reports and lists requested by members.

Members and staff also raised transparency concerns. Several representatives asked why certain reports required by boilerplate (for example, the Attorney General—s outside counsel reports) were not posted after 2023 and requested staff assistance to locate the statutory boilerplate references and the missing materials. Knossen said some report types are posted online, while others are not consistently updated and that staff could provide the committee with the source documents and lists requested.

The committee adjourned after asking subcommittee members to identify boilerplate they would like to preserve or add to improve oversight going forward.