Brinks: Big 3 Leaders Have Yet To Meet On '27 Budget

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 05/27/2026) (MACKINAC ISLAND) – Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) says that the state Capitol's three major leaders have not yet met on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budget, which they aim to finish by the end of June.

Brinks spoke to MIRS during the Mackinac Policy Conference, a yearly gathering of business, political and nonprofit leaders hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber.

When asked if she believes a withdrawal from Michigan's $2.2 billion budget stabilization fund – or "Rainy Day Fund" – remains necessary to cover next fiscal year's budget without creating new taxes, Brinks said, "it may be."

Senate Democrats in April approved a $350 million withdrawal from Michigan's Rainy Day Fund. They aimed to use the money to address anticipated costs related to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) that President Donald Trump signed last summer, and its reforms on Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

On the other hand, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has proposed subtracting $400 million from the savings account, as well as deploying multiple new "sin taxes" on things like vaping, internet gaming run by large casinos, pre-wager sports betting and digital ads.

"I think we need to have that conversation with all three parties in a productive way. Right now, that conversation has not happened, yet," Brinks said. "You cannot cut your way to helping the constituents of our state, the residents of our state, without some pain, so I think it's going to be important that we have that on the table as an option."

Questions on budget sustainability make this year's budget-making season unlike those of 2022 and 2023, following the COVID-19 pandemic, where federal recovery dollars and better-than-expected tax revenue boosted the state's pockets.

They also come as voters will pick the state's next governor in November.

For example, during a series of 10-minute one-on-one interviews held by the Acuitas lobbying firm at Winchester's Whiskey & Bourbon Room on Mackinac Island, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson – the perceived frontrunner of Democrats' primary – said there needs to be a top-to-bottom review of how Michigan generates revenue for itself.

She said a lot of Michigan's funding policies are antiquated, haven't been revisited in decades and the state can diversify its economy with more tourism, amusement attractions, arts and sports.

"I've also seen, again, as the head of one of our largest agencies, a tremendous opportunity to shed wasteful spending, increase efficiencies, do it all while preserving well-paying jobs for our state employees," Benson said.

U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Township) talked about beginning things with oversight, looking at "slush fund – unspent General Fund" dollars formerly set aside to attract corporate development and maldistributed unemployment payments.

"We're going to be focusing on contracts. We're going to be focusing on taking care of the businesses that we have because we cannot thrive," James said. "We've had companies that have left our state after taking our tax dollars, and we just had a (Michigan State University) president leave our state and go to Clemson University because of the environment that we have here."

Previous Republican Attorney General Mike Cox talked about reducing income tax paid for by small businesses and promoting job growth. Oakland County pastor Ralph Rebandt – a conservative underdog with a loyal cluster of followers – talked about providing residents with a transactional card to purchase things with their gold and silver investments as a way to change how Michigan does commerce overall.

Returning to today's legislature, MIRS asked Michigan's newest state senator, Sen. Chedrick Greene (D-Saginaw) about whether he would support the Rainy Day Fund withdrawal. Greene won his May special election by more than 20 percentage points, a notably high margin of victory considering that the 35th Senate district – covering Midland, Bay City and Saginaw – was recently viewed as a political battleground, home to blue-collar MAGA voters and labor-centered Democrats.

Greene tried pitching himself as a "working class leader," honing in on his resume as the Saginaw city fire captain, a military retiree and the son of auto-sector workers who migrated from Louisiana.

As someone who's talked heavily about more than half of his constituents earning less than $60,000 a year, and the impact new taxes and Medicaid changes could have on them, he signaled the state Capitol needs to ask what's the point of having a Rainy Day Fund.

"Is it to help us or is it to say, 'Hey, we have this money here?'" he said, not wanting to have the money on the side when residents are tapping into their own funds. "We have folks in our district that I've talked to on the doors who say, 'You know, I am depleting my savings account because I have to be able to live. Things are costing so much that I have to dip into the savings, and I've been saving for XYZ, to make sure that I'm able to have a roof over my head, to make sure I have a car that goes back and forth to work, and make sure I can afford the gas.'"

Dave Coulter, the Oakland County executive since 2019, said when he first entered the job, he, Detroit's mayor and the Macomb and Wayne County executives floated the idea of possibly proposing a regional sales tax or a Metro Detroit-specific tax that legislators would have to approve for them to do.

When asked if a specific urgent need exists that would merit bringing the idea to lawmakers, Coulter pointed to education, mental health, programs for senior citizens and affordable housing.

"Like all governments, we were flush during the COVID-relief funds era, right? The (American Rescue Plan Act) dollars were a lot," Coulter said. "We're back to pre-COVID belt-tightening . . . we're Oakland County, so we have some resources here, but we're not creating a lot of new programs these days, and if we do have a great idea for a new program, we're going to stop doing something else."

For example, Oakland County deposited $20 million in COVID-19 recovery dollars into a fund for affordable housing developers, "which we don't happen anymore." The county is attempting to dedicate $3 million of its own general fund into the account every year – making it "revolving" in nature, with developers returning investments over time – and is seeking collaboration with banks and "other community partners."

"But it would be hugely helpful if there were state dollars for local communities to do this," Coulter said.

Asked how much of an allowance she'd be willing to allocate in Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 for special spending requests by legislators for programs and projects in their districts, Brinks signaled intentions to "take off the top" of past appropriations.

For example, special grants designated to pre-selected recipients have dropped from more than $700 million in the FY '24 budget to $275.8 million in FY '26.

"Well, certainly we have less money than we had in the past, so it should be a reasonable amount based on living within our means and passing a balanced budget. Those things are more important than what we do with those specific projects," Brinks said.

House Republicans in April put forward a budget proposal with $145.3 million for representatives' project requests, or Legislative Directive Spending Items (LSDIs).