What’s in the State Budget Deal for Early Childhood?
| Guest post from ECIC: At the end of June, Michigan lawmakers approved a record $81.7 billion state budget for FY24, now on its way to Governor Whitmer for her signature. |
ECIC and Think Babies Michigan Coalition partners helped to shape several priorities in the final budget deal, including:
- Increased funding for Great Start Collaboratives and Family Coalitions, evidence-based home visiting programs, early childhood literacy programs, Early On Special education services, and more.
- New funding to waive the five-year waiting period for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility for children under 21 who are legally residing immigrants.
- Increased and new funding to expand free pre-K, a step toward Pre-K for All, including funding to encourage providers (both school-based and community-based) to offer 5-day, 36-week programming.
- The removal of a proposed new school-based pre-K program outside of, and in competition with, the existing Great Start Readiness Program, forcing providers to compete for funding. Special thanks to Think Babies MI coalition members, the Michigan Association for the Education of Young Children, and the hundreds of providers, businesses, and families who made their voices heard by signing on to oppose this proposal.
Learn more about the state Budget’s impact on early childhood issues in our full summary.
| What to Expect Next |
| Lawmakers are moving quickly to advance the budget deal, and Governor Whitmer is expected to sign the deal into law. Take action and thank your elected officials: Call or email Governor Whitmer, your state representative and state senator to thank them for acting and investing in Michigan’s young children, their families, and the early childhood workforce. Get ready to take more action soon: There are areas in the state budget deal where early childhood advocates wanted lawmakers to do more, such as increased funding for child care provider rate |
