Michigan signs FY2027 budget with workforce, small-business and mobility investments

Michigan’s fiscal year 2027 budget has been signed into law with $14.5 million for employer-focused workforce training and $1 million for the state office working on future-mobility initiatives, including aviation and drone programs.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the balanced bipartisan budget on July 21, calling it her eighth and final bipartisan budget. The spending plan sets statewide priorities for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2026.

For employers, the clearest specified workforce appropriation is the $14.5 million for Going Pro, a program that helps businesses train and retain workers. The program supports on-the-job training, apprenticeships and classroom instruction.

Training funds target employers and workers

The Going Pro allocation is intended for employers seeking training support and for workers receiving the training. The state’s announcement identifies the program funding but does not provide a program-by-program accounting of all business or small-business appropriations in the FY2027 budget.

That distinction matters for assessing the package’s economic reach. The budget contains a defined $14.5 million appropriation for Going Pro, but the available announcement does not specify how many employers or workers will receive assistance, how funding will be distributed, or how many jobs may result.

Whitmer’s office described the budget as supporting small businesses and lowering costs. However, the announcement does not identify a complete list of related appropriations or provide an independent estimate of job creation. The signed budget should therefore be understood as establishing funding and policy priorities, rather than as evidence of a quantified employment outcome.

$1 million for future mobility office

The budget also includes $1 million for the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification. According to the governor’s announcement, initiatives supported by the office include aviation and drone programs connected to innovation, economic growth and workforce development.

The appropriation provides state funding for the office’s work in FY2027. The announcement does not detail how the $1 million will be divided among specific projects, whether individual aviation or drone programs have been selected, or what private investment or employment outcomes may follow.

For businesses and workers in mobility-related fields, the funding signals that the state is continuing to devote budget resources to emerging transportation and aviation technologies. It does not, on its own, establish that projects are financed, under construction or operational.

School meals continue for 1.4 million students

Beyond the workforce and mobility items, the FY2027 budget continues free breakfast and lunch for all 1.4 million public-school students in Michigan. The governor’s office included the meal program among measures it described as lowering costs for families.

The meal provision affects public-school students statewide and continues an existing benefit under the new fiscal-year budget. The announcement does not provide the cost of that program within the FY2027 plan.

The budget’s economic provisions combine direct, identified appropriations for training and future mobility with broader measures the administration says will support small businesses and reduce household costs. But the available state release does not offer a full economic breakdown, total spending for those broader measures, or independently measured results.

The next known milestone is Oct. 1, 2026, when Michigan’s FY2027 begins and the budget’s appropriations take effect for the new fiscal year.

Sources

• Gov. Whitmer Signs Budget to Build on Strong Legacy of Lowering Costs, Creating Jobs, and Protecting Access to Healthcare, Executive Office of the Governor of Michigan