State Sen. Sarah Anthony warns of $800 million state shortfall, urges Ingham County support for local programs including Rx Kids

State Sen. Sarah Anthony, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told Ingham County commissioners on Feb. 10 that the state will soon release the governor's executive recommendation and that lawmakers face a large budget gap.

“We are left with, over an $800,000,000 hole in our state's budget,” Anthony said, adding that 46% of the state's budget is federal money and that reductions will make it harder to sustain health and human services, public safety and infrastructure. She described the current economy to the Senate Fiscal Agency as “just meh,” and said lawmakers would look for a mix of cuts, new revenue and use of reserves to address the shortfall.

Anthony said the county should expect pressure on local budgets as state health care costs rise and urged commissioners to preserve funding for human services. She also pressed the board to consider supporting programs that leverage outside dollars, noting efforts to expand Rx Kids — a maternal and child health program — that require a local match.

“I'm here to support you,” Anthony said, asking local officials to use their influence to help secure matching funds and promising to help “cut through red tape” at the state level.

Why it matters: Anthony framed this as both an immediate budget-management challenge and an argument for strategic local investments: small local matches, she said, can draw far larger state, federal and philanthropic funds. Her remarks set context for the board's later vote on a funding match for the Rx Kids Lansing expansion.

Next steps: Commissioners proceeded through the meeting agenda, including a discussion and subsequent vote on the Rx Kids expansion later in the session.