Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks to the Lansing Economic Club during an event in East Lansing, Mich., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who for slamming politicians on the left and the right for centering division over consensus, has put forth a lofty promise in his campaign for governor: No budget from lawmakers, no pay for lawmakers.听
While members of the Democratic-led Michigan Senate and the Republican-led Michigan House of Representatives by their legal deadline of July 1, Duggan announced Thursday that his first move if elected, would be to call for a law to suspend the salaries of state elected officials if they fail to approve the state budget by the legal deadline.
性视界传媒淲e are just six weeks from the start of the school year and none of Michigan性视界传媒檚 4,000 public schools has a real budget. Principals and teachers can性视界传媒檛 properly hire or plan for their school性视界传媒檚 opening without knowing their budget and it性视界传媒檚 always our children who pay the price for this chaos,性视界传媒 said Duggan, a longtime Democrat .听
Although Michigan law requires the Legislature to pass a state budget by or on July 1, the law carries no penalties. If lawmakers fail to reach a deal when the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1 the state will face a government shutdown.
However, Michigan schools must pass their budgets by the end of June, meaning the legislature性视界传媒檚 failure to meet the July 1 deadline has left districts throughout the state in the lurch.听
性视界传媒淔or the past six months, Democrats and Republicans in Lansing have been stuck in toxic partisan gridlock. Then, they gave up on July 1 and went home without passing a budget,性视界传媒 Duggan said.听
Duggan noted that in his 12 years as mayor, Detroit has met its legal budget deadline in all 12, calling for a change to 性视界传媒減olitics as usual性视界传媒 in Lansing.听
Alongside suspending salaries for members of the House and Senate, Duggan性视界传媒檚 proposal would apply to the governor and lieutenant governor.听
Duggan further slammed Lansing politicians for allowing partisanship to get in the way of progress, pointing to the state性视界传媒檚 long decline in 4th grade reading scores, an issue Duggan has made central to his campaign.听
性视界传媒淚nstead of addressing the crisis in the schools, Lansing has made it worse by failing to pass a schools budget,性视界传媒 Duggan said. 性视界传媒淚 promise you this: If we hold up salaries, we性视界传媒檒l get a school budget approved immediately. If there性视界传媒檚 one issue that Democratic and Republican legislators agree on, it性视界传媒檚 that they all want their paychecks.性视界传媒
Michigan in 4th grade reading levels, with Duggan demanding additional accountability, giving principals in failing districts three years to turn things around before they would be fired, and a new leadership team would be put in place.听
Duggan for school funding during his keynote address at the 2025 Mackinac conference, though he offered few financial details.听
While Duggan struck out from his long-held home in the Democratic Party, several other Democrats have sought to succeed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, including Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson and former Cape Coral, Fla., Mayor Marni Sawicki.
On the Republican side former Attorney General Mike Cox, U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Twp.), former House Speaker Tom Leonard, Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, former congressional candidate Anthony Hudson and construction manager William Null plan to seek the state性视界传媒檚 top office.听
