Michigan Budget Director Tours Kalamazoo Food Bank as GOP Tax Cut Proposals Raise Questions About State Funding for West Michigan

State Budget Director Jen Flood joins Democratic Sen. Sean McCann at Loaves & Fishes in Kalamazoo to discuss SNAP funding amid rising federal costs and Republican tax cut proposals that could require deep spending cuts across West Michigan

State Budget Director Jen Flood and Democratic state Sen. Sean McCann toured Loaves & Fishes in Kalamazoo on Wednesday afternoon, walking through the warehouse and listening to staff describe how rising food costs and federal policy changes are making it harder for families to access SNAP benefits.

The federal government is passing the tab to states on some really important programs like SNAP and Medicaid, Flood said during the visit.

The conversation comes as Republican gubernatorial candidates including Perry Johnson and Mike Cox push to eliminate Michigan's state income tax, a move that would require cutting approximately $13 billion from the state budget according to state budget experts.

Governor candidate Perry Johnson has promised to save taxpayers $4,747 a year by eliminating the state income tax. But his campaign's math does not account for what happens to state government funding after removing one of its primary revenue sources.

According to Treasury data, the median family of four in Michigan actually pays an effective income tax rate closer to 3 percent rather than the full 4.25 percent that Johnson cites. But even eliminating those savings would not fund the state government.

Michigan officials reduced their revenue projections by $320 million for fiscal 2026 after forecasting weaker economic conditions. The state faces a revenue shortfall of more than $1 billion this year as property tax collections and other sources fall short of expectations.

The Governor's budget proposal totals $88.1 billion and includes more than $186 million in additional funds to administer SNAP, but also upwards of $780 million in Medicare funding. The proposal recommends a 4 percent increase in the state budget, not counting federal transfers.

The governor's proposal is just one piece of the process. Both chambers of the legislature will each put forth their own vision. Republicans control the state House and have already expressed wariness of new taxes. Democrats control the Senate and have pushed for property tax reform and government transparency measures.

Republican House Speaker Matt Hall has defended the minimal lawmaking in Lansing, arguing quality matters more than quantity. He has personally blocked a top priority for Senate Democrats, who last year advanced a government transparency proposal to expand Michigan's Freedom of Information Act.

Hall has not yet introduced a property tax reform plan, but has publicly stated that he is optimistic the Legislature can get a property tax cut deal done this year. Property taxes make up as much as 90 percent of funding for many municipal and county governments, which collected about $6.8 billion in property taxes in 2024.

The slow legislative pace continues into 2026. As of the first three months of the year, Governor Gretchen Whitmer has signed only seven bills into law, making it the lowest performing legislative year since 1842 according to the Michigan Information and Research Service Inc.

We may in fact really not see much movement other than a budget all this year, unless we see a deal on property taxes, said Republican strategist John Sellek, founder and CEO of the Lansing-based Harbor Strategic communications firm.

Among other initiatives facing an uncertain future in the politically polarized Capitol include a medical debt relief plan approved by the Democratic-led Senate, funding for a new runway and infrastructure upgrades at the Selfridge Air National Guard Base approved by the Republican-led House, and a potential business incentive deal that Whitmer and Hall have discussed in the past.

The budget process proved contentious last year, the first since Republicans won back the state House to end a short-lived Democratic trifecta. Lawmakers blew past a July 1 budget deadline written into state law and then missed an October 1 deadline mandated by the state Constitution, passing a stopgap spending measure to avoid the first state government shutdown in 16 years.

The action that Congress took last year blew an enormous hole in our budget and it also puts access to food and health care at risk for millions of Michiganders, Flood said during the Kalamazoo visit.

Flood noted that the Governor built her budget based on projections that included a revenue decline of more than $1 billion this year. The State Budget Office will receive an update in May about actual revenue collections, but Whitmer has committed to leaving the state's finances in better shape than she inherited them.

The budget process remains one of the most contentious issues in West Michigan politics, with families asking whether tax cuts for businesses and individuals will come at the expense of essential services that keep communities functioning.

We know that families are facing rising costs, and so in the Governor's final budget, we have investments to help make sure that people maintain access to healthcare, maintain access food, Flood said.

The staff at Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes told Flood and McCann that the people they serve are having a harder time accessing SNAP, pointing to new regulations from the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Families are struggling as they balance rising food prices with reduced eligibility for government assistance.

We built our budget based on those projections, Flood said. We'll get an update in May, but the Governor's committed to leaving our state's finances in better shape than she inherited them, so we will watch closely what happens and make sure that our spending leaves us in a good place.

The Legislature will convene on Tuesday after lawmakers took a legislative spring break. Both chambers will be back in the Capitol as they continue to negotiate the details of the 2026 budget, which will determine whether West Michigan schools, roads, and community services receive adequate funding to meet local needs.

Michigan lawmakers spend $42 million on community college scholarships to people over 25, roughly what the state spends on wildlife management. The program is intended to help people get better jobs, but the state does not bother to check whether participants improve their wages.

Other areas of increased spending deserve scrutiny from lawmakers. Michigan lawmakers have authorized $6.9 billion in selective business subsidies since 2019, despite poor results in turning subsidies into jobs.

If lawmakers find that they cannot agree on budgets that save money, they should ensure that the inflated budget does not keep growing beyond sustainable levels. This means spending just 3 percent more next year, not 5 percent as the governor recommended.

The state operates with a balanced budget, so a penny saved in the budget process is a penny earned for tax cuts, emergency priorities, or extra debt payments. There is a lot of good lawmakers can accomplish if they practice restraint.

The state's revenue and population numbers do not align with the senator's claims, said James Hohman, a fiscal policy expert at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Michigan lawmakers ought to approve budgets that practice restraint. They have tried some things that did not work and should learn their lessons.

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