Never wanting to keep MLA members in the dark, we are finally able to share the state of Michigan budget with you (links below for the House Fiscal Agency Conference Reports for the General Omnibus Budget and the School Aid Fund). With little to no advance public review of the budget, in the early morning hours today, the FY25 State of Michigan budget (beginning October 1) has finally passed through the conference committee, the Senate and the House. The budget now awaits the Governor’s signature before the July 1st deadline. (Just as a reminder, she also has line item veto power, so nothing is in stone until she signs.) While we haven’t had time to digest the entire budget, we have highlighted some of the items that we have been watching including (DRUMROLL PLEASE) a $1,000,000 increase to State Aid bringing it to $16,567,700. And while we didn’t get everything we asked for in the budget…your voices were heard and communications with your state legislators made a difference! Advocacy is a full year commitment – it never ends, so keep up the good work. We are #StrongerTogether. MLA will share more details soon on other MLA priorities. Thank you MLA Members! ********************* GENERAL OMNIBUS BUDGET<https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2023-2024/billanalysis/House/pdf/2023-HLA-0747-4CE6C7D4.pdf> Dept of Education State Aid to Libraries - $1,000,000 increase (page 21) Poet Laureate - $100,000 (on-going support rather than one time funding) (page 22) Library of Michigan allocation of $450,000 for 3 FTE staff members for operation support was not adopted in the final budget (Page 23) Dept. of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential (MILEAP) State Archives will be moving from the Dept. of Natural Resources to the new MILEAP department - $1.915M with 14.5 FTE Dept. of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) Senate One-Time Grant Programs (Page 118) No funds were included for Community Center grants ($20M proposed by Senate) No funds were included for Community Revitalization and Municipal Support grants ($15.5M proposed by Senate) Enhancement Grants (Page 118) (There may be other libraries that will benefit from the $335,987,000 dollars allocated to these enhancement grants, but perhaps are listed under their city, township or county) Community Enhancement Grants – Senate Bill 747, (S-1) CR-1, Sec. 1050a - Hazel Park Library infrastructure grant $200,000 (Page 130) Community Enhancement Grants – Senate Bill 747, (S-1) CR-1, Sec. 1050d - Krause Memorial Library Expansion $1,000,000 (Page 131) Dept. of Natural Resources America 250 Commission Grants (one time only) $5,000,000 (Page 167) Plan, develop, encourage, and coordinate the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the United States. [We think this is going to be a great opportunity for our libraries to get involved in the 2026 celebration.] SCHOOL AID FUND<https://www.milibraries.org/assets/docs/1474-FINAL%20FY25%20Education%20Omnibus%20HB%205507%20H-1%20CR-1%20Conference%20Report.pdf> Out of School Time grants (retained at $50M but includes an additional $25M one-time only increase for a total of $75M) and revises the department administering the program from MDE to MiLEAP (Page 17) Dolly Parton Imagination Library – retains $4M one-time funding and revises the department administering the program from MDE to MiLEAP (Page 17) School Libraries (Senate provided for a $25M one-time SAF) – This was not adopted in the final SAF budget (Page 19) ********************** We will keep looking through these extensive documents and will make sure to let you know if we find anything else that is worthy of note to libraries throughout Michigan. Linked here also is the press release from the Governor’s Office celebrating the passage of the FY25 budget<https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/news/press-releases/2024/02/07/whitmer-fy25-budget-a-roadmap-for-making-it-in-michigan#:~:text=The%20fiscally%20responsible%20budget%20recommendation,funds%20for%20one-time%20purposes.> Debbie [A picture containing text, clipart Description automatically generated] Deborah E. Mikula Executive Director Michigan Library Association PO Box 27337 Lansing, MI. 48909 Office: 517-394-2774, ext. 5 Direct: 517-881-1266 dmikula@milibraries.org<mailto:dmikula@milibraries.org> www.milibraries.org<http://www.milibraries.org/> Pronouns: she/her/hers Follow MLA on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/MichiganLibraryAssociation> and Twitter<https://twitter.com/mlaoffice>!
