State Senator Sarah Anthony warns of large state budget shortfall, urges county focus on human services

State Sen. Sarah Anthony (D-21st District), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, briefed the Ingham County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 10 about a deteriorating state revenue outlook and urged local leaders to protect human services spending.

Anthony told the board that roughly 46% of Michigan’s budget is federal funding and that changes at the federal level have contributed to “more than $1,000,000,000” of pressure on the state balance sheet, leaving what she described as “over an $800,000,000 hole” the Legislature must address. She said the shortfall will make it harder to shield health and human services, public safety and infrastructure from cuts and will require a mix of spending reductions, new revenues and use of reserves.

Anthony highlighted that the state has begun a new roads funding plan but said available revenue still falls short of the work needed on local roads. She urged county commissioners to prioritize services such as the health department, prenatal and maternal programs and other human-services investments that counties often administer or help support.

Anthony told commissioners the governor’s executive budget recommendation would be released the following day and encouraged commissioners to use their influence to help secure match funding and to work with the senator’s office to “cut through red tape.” She specifically urged local support for an expansion of the Rx Kids program — a maternal-and-early-childhood initiative piloted in Flint — and asked commissioners to consider local match contributions that could leverage state and philanthropic dollars.

The senator closed by offering staff assistance and said her office was available to help county officials navigate state processes.

The commission did not take action on the state budget briefing itself; the remarks were presented as information for the board and the public.