Bill
HB 4579
House-passed HB 4579 funds Michigan's 28 community colleges at about $456.65M (SAF), trims performance funding, removes one-time money, and awaits Senate action.
Status & purpose
- HB 4579 (H‑1) is the FY 2025–26 appropriations bill for Michigan’s 28 public community colleges. It amends multiple sections of the State School Aid Act (1979 PA 94) to set line‑item funding and related statutory language for community colleges for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026.
- The bill passed the House (substitute H‑1 adopted) on June 12, 2025 (Roll Call #157: Yeas 56 / Nays 41) with immediate effect and was referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriations on June 17, 2025.
Total funding & funding source
- House as‑passed total (gross): $456,652,500 (adjusted gross). This amount is funded predominantly from the State School Aid Fund (SAF); State GF/GP is shown as $0 in the House version (previously $500,000 in an earlier draft).
- Compared to FY 2024–25 year‑to‑date, the House as‑passed amount is a net decrease of roughly $5.57 million (≈1.2%).
Key line‑item and program changes
- Community college operations: The House appropriates $363,363,500 for operations (SAF). The H‑1 substitute contains detailed per‑college allocations (operations, performance funding, and North American Indian tuition waiver costs) for each of the 28 colleges.
- Performance funding: The House version reduces or eliminates the separate performance funding line amounts for many colleges (several colleges show $0.00 for performance funding in H‑1), reflecting a reallocation in the House package versus the Executive/Senate proposals.
- One‑time funding removed: The bill removes FY 2024–25 one‑time appropriations totaling $2.0 million (including a $1.2M SAF Career & Education Navigators grant; $500K GF/GP for a public‑service careers program; $350K SAF for Kalamazoo Valley internet accessibility). In addition, $3.6M of one‑time operations funding carried in prior versions was removed.
- Retirement (MPSERS) funding: The Executive and Senate proposals included increases for the state’s share of community colleges’ MPSERS Unfunded Actuarial Accrued Liability (UAAL) stabilization payment (raising total to ~$89.5M SAF) and adjustments to the normal cost offset. The House as‑passed bill does not include the Executive’s proposed increases for the state share or the normal cost offset.
- Items/Special grants in Senate version not included by House: Senate proposed one‑time ITEMS grants ($10.9M SAF), $2.0M for St. Clair County CC equipment, and $500K for Kalamazoo Valley Circle Center; these were omitted in the House package.
Who is affected
- Directly: the 28 public community colleges (their FY 2025–26 operating budgets and specific grants).
- Indirectly: community college students (potential tuition/fee policy implications tied to performance funding conditions), college employees (retirement funding treatment), and local taxpayers (through the SAF and local revenue interactions).
Conditions and policy language
- Earlier Executive/Senate language conditioned performance funding on limiting in‑district tuition/fee increases (the greater of 4.5% or a dollar amount). The H‑1 substitute revises appropriations and statutory sections across many parts of the State School Aid Act and adds several new sections (217d–217i), but the House package notably reduces some performance funding line items.
Procedural next steps
- After House passage, HB 4579 (H‑1) is pending Senate consideration (Committee on Appropriations). Final funding is subject to further Senate action and concurrence before becoming law.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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