Lansing Update: How House Budget Treats Mothers in Need; Poor & Vulnerable
Posted September 5, 2025
Mixed Results in House Budget for MCC-Supported Programs Helping Moms
In a proposed budget approved by the House, the state’s contribution to a program providing cash assistance to pregnant mothers in lower income areas in Michigan was eliminated, and funding to help provide free diapers to mothers in need was maintained at the current spending level, while at the same time reducing the overall allocation for the program.
In the current year, $6.4 million was set aside for the state to purchase diapering supplies in bulk and distribute them to nonprofit agencies that provide diapers free-of-charge, which include pregnancy centers, diaper assistance programs, maternity homes, and local county offices.
The Senate’s proposal for next year would keep the funding at $6.4 million and allow unused funding to roll over for use in subsequent years. The House reduces the amount to $3 million, which aligns more closely with how much funding the program uses each year and eliminates the opportunity for unused funds to roll over.
The House budget would also require the diaper assistance dollars to be distributed in every county in the state, which could possibly expand the reach of its impact to more areas.
The House recently passed its spending plan for the balance of state government, which now joins the Senate and Governor’s proposals, all of which are still up for consideration and negotiation. Legislative leaders must now reach a final compromise between the three plans ahead of a September 30 deadline to pass a budget to fund the state before the October 1 start of the 2026 fiscal year.
The House had previously passed just the education spending budget, while the Senate passed both of its budgets earlier this year, following the Governor’s release of her budget recommendations.
The diaper program and cash assistance program for new moms and their babies—known as RxKids—are two MCC priorities in the state budget.
With regards to RxKids, the House is proposing to remove completely the current year amount of $20 million as the state’s contribution to the program. RxKids which provides direct cash assistance to mothers and their newborn children during pregnancy and throughout the child’s first year of life, is supported by MCC, which testified recently in support of establishing the program into state law.
The Senate, however, proposed increasing RxKids funding to $78 million to expand the program further. It began as a pilot project in Flint and has since expanded to mothers who live in Kalamazoo, Pontiac, the eastern Upper Peninsula, and Clare County.
A third MCC priority within the budget—the state rate paid to foster care agencies, which helps Catholic agencies that provide foster care services—would remain intact in the House budget at the current rate of $60.20. The Senate proposal also keeps the same rate, ensuring continued support for Catholic agencies that facilitate these important services for vulnerable children.
MCC is sharing how the budget proposals passed by the Legislature or proposed by the Governor compare to each other to provide context for where a funding item stands heading into budget negotiations. Items of difference are subject to negotiation, while items of agreement are more likely to make the final product, while not guaranteed.
How Programs for the Poor Fare Under House Spending Plan
The House budget proposal kept intact several programs that assist poor and vulnerable populations, including funding to clothe and shelter needy families, as well as to care for human trafficking victims.
Both the House and Senate agreed on continued funding of the following services:
- $10 million to provide back-to-school clothing for needy children.
- $8.5 million to support family shelters and emergency housing.
- Support of homeless shelters through a per diem rate, with the Senate increasing funding of it to $24 and the House maintaining the current level at $19.
- Three additional months of food assistance to victims of human trafficking.
- $200,000 for human trafficking intervention services.
- Support for caseworkers to provide immediate assistance to children removed from dangerous environments, including victims of human trafficking, but the Senate increasing it to $75,000 while the House and Governor maintain a $50,000 appropriation.
The Senate also proposed a new $1 million to support human trafficking victim services, which was not included in the Governor’s or the House’s proposal.
The Senate and Governor proposed $1.2 million for additional young child supplemental payments for those receiving cash assistance, but the House reduced this by $3 million, requiring 70% of the funds to be allocated for children under 5 years of age.
Finally, here are some other budget items of interest that MCC is tracking:
- Abortion
- Language in the House budget would prohibit the state health department and its contractors from contracting with abortion providers. On a separate funding item, the Senate proposed $10 million for “reproductive health access grants,” which the House did not include in its proposal.
- Adoption Subsidies
- The House proposed increasing by $1.1 million subsidies to support parents who choose to adopt, while the Governor and the Senate decreased this subsidy.
- Public Safety Trust Fund
- The House is proposing $115 million be set aside for a proposed new Public Safety and Violence Prevention Fund. Pending legislation divides the funding up between counties, cities, villages, and townships, as well as the state’s crime victim rights fund. MCC supports the legislation as a means of addressing community violence and helping crime victims.
- Palliative Care Panel
- The Senate included new budget language to require the creation of a Palliative Care Advisory Task Force to conduct research, recommend provisions for palliative care services and reimbursement, and collaborate to improve and expand palliative care. The House did not include this provision.
- Supporting Fathers
- Neither the House or Senate included $5 million proposed by the Governor to support fathers through funding fatherhood organizations, training caseworkers, and raising awareness on the importance of fathers to young children.
- Car Seats
- The House removed $500,000 to provide parents of newborns car seats, which had been included by the Governor and Senate.
Lawmakers Formally Recognize Pope Leo’s Election in Resolution
A bipartisan resolution adopted by the House this week formally congratulated Pope Leo XIV on “his historic election” as the “first American pontiff.”
House Resolution 160 includes several biographical details on the Holy Father and called his election “a historic milestone for American Catholics and faithful Catholics around the world.” The entire resolution can be read here.
Focus Friday: Revisiting Mother Teresa House on the Saint of Calcutta’s Feast Day
Today is the Church’s universal memorial celebrating St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the beloved founder of the Missionaries of Charity who served the poorest of the poor in India and was an outspoken advocate for human life and dignity.
On her feast day, it is fitting to reshare MCC’s 2024 edition of Focus that featured Mother Teresa House, a Lansing-based ministry that provides 24/7 care, free-of-charge, to terminally ill patients.
MCC’s conversation with the founder of Mother Teresa House was included in the Focus publication that presented a Catholic perspective on end-of-life care in the face of continued efforts to legalize and expand assisted suicide across the country and world.