Water, health protections gutted in GOP House budget

Yesterday, Michigan House Republicans passed their version of the 2026 State Budget, which decimates protections for water and air, eliminates critical health programs, and hamstrings  state departments tasked with safeguarding our communities. 

Included were: 

• $200 million in cuts to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), an almost 20% reduction in funding for the department;
• The removal of hundreds of jobs from across our state departments that are critical for monitoring drinking water and air quality, maintaining public lands, stewarding our Great Lakes, protecting our public health, and more;
• $92.5 million in cuts to public health programs, which is on top of a nearly $4 billion cut to Medicaid
• $53 million in cuts to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR); 

A deeper dive into these cuts reveals specific targeting of programs and operations that protect our lakes and our drinking water. If enacted, this budget would cut $4.9 million from the Drinking Water and Environmental Health division at EGLE while leaving out funding for water infrastructure projects and lead service line replacement. The budget would also cut $17.4 million from our water quality programs and $4.5 million in contaminated site cleanup.

“These cuts open the door for polluters to destroy our air and water quality, while simultaneously gutting the departments tasked with monitoring them,” said Charlotte Jameson, chief policy officer for the Michigan Environmental Council. “I would call this budget a joke if its potential impacts weren’t so devastating. As we face a mountain of federal funding cuts to human health and our environment and barrel towards a potential shut down of state government, it’s critical that House Republicans go back to the drawing board and come up with a proposal that puts protections for our communities and natural resources first.” 

Republicans also target DNR and our state parks. Their proposed budget eliminated millions from wildlife management, invasive species removal, and parks and recreation.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Mixed in with the alarming cuts are added bits of language that roll back investments in clean energy and open the door to even more pollution, including language that restricts EGLE’s Water Resources Division from spending money unless they gut our state PFAS drinking water standards, and boilerplate language that would prohibit the lease or purchase of electric or hybrid vehicles for the state fleet. This comes as House Republicans are simultaneously passing legislation to deregulate industries that pose considerable pollution threats.

“The House Republican budget systematically eliminates protections for our lakes and drinking water,” said Tim Minotas, legislative and political director of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter. “This budget provides zero new funding to fix our crumbling water infrastructure or help communities remove toxic lead service lines, while cutting millions from the department tasked with safeguarding our drinking water. The budget would also force the state to roll back protections from toxic PFAS chemicals. Our lakes and rivers are what make Michigan unique and great, but this budget is a clear indicator that house republicans do not care about protecting our water or health.”