FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
June 15, 2026
Contact: Levi Teitel, levi@progressmichigan.org
Matt Hall’s Threat to State Budget Will Harm Students and Educators
MICHIGAN—Michigan Republican House Speaker Matt Hall is playing games with the state budget for the second year in a row. Last week, Hall suggested passing a temporary budget that would approve funding for just four months. School districts need the legislature to pass a budget by June 30 so they can start preparing for the next year. If not, chaos may ensue once again with funding cuts, layoffs, and more as administrators struggle to plan ahead without clear assurances for how much money they’ll have to spend. In response to this news, Justin Mendoza, executive director of Progress Michigan, issued the following statement:
“Matt Hall’s chaotic energy and our state’s public education system are a match made in hell. Just last week, he suggested passing a temporary budget that would fund school districts barely until the end of the calendar year. But that’s not how school districts operate. They need to know by July 1 how much money they’re getting until the end of the school year.
“It’s predictable yet appalling that Matt Hall doesn’t know this—or, even worse, that he doesn’t care. Last year, House Republicans nearly shut the state down because they refused to develop and negotiate a real budget, and school districts and basic needs programs got hurt as a result. It’s hard to see Hall’s actions as anything other than a ploy to underfund our public schools so they can continue to prop up private school funding to enrich their friends and donors.
“Matt Hall has a responsibility to fulfill his job requirements, and one of those is to pass a full school budget by the end of the month. If he fails, then it’s on him—and our education system will fail with him.”
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