Lansing Update: Grassroots Support for Nonpublic Schools Fill Lawmaker Inboxes
Posted July 2, 2025
Lawmakers Receive 2,300+ Messages Supporting Nonpublic Schools as Budget Talks Stall
More than 2,300 messages were sent to lawmakers from grassroots advocates like you urging support for Catholic and nonpublic school students in the next state budget.
Grassroot messages reached all 37 sitting state Senate members and all but three of the 110 state House members. Nearly 1,200 individuals participated in the campaign.
The trove of messages is a crucial component of MCC’s work to secure state support for nonpublic students. Lawmakers need to hear directly from their constituents, and lawmakers also need to hear why the 100,000 students who attend nonpublic schools deserve equitable access to state support services.
For all who took a moment to send a message to their lawmakers or shared the Action Alert with others, thank you for your advocacy and making your voice heard!
The Action Alert was initiated by the Michigan Catholic Conference in the days leading up to the July 1 deadline set in state law for the Legislature to approve and send a state budget to the Governor for the next fiscal year, which begins October 1. However, the budget-setting process this year has fallen behind the typical schedule.
Ahead of the July 1 deadline, there had been discussions in the Legislature about advancing just the school spending portion of the next budget, prompting the MCC Action Alert to ensure the voices of 100,000 nonpublic school students, families, and supporters were heard in the deliberations.
Ultimately, the Legislature did not approve a budget bill before the July 1 deadline, as negotiations between the Republican-led House, the Democratic-led Senate, and the Governor’s office have failed to produce a compromise that all three parties could agree with.
While the Legislature missed the July 1 deadline, state law does not prescribe any penalties for missing it. In the past, the Legislature has sometimes worked up until the start of the new fiscal year or beyond to get an agreement done.
It is not yet clear when the final budget will be presented and passed. The House and Senate are each scheduled to meet next for session on Tuesday, July 15.
In any event, the prolonged budget process allows MCC, the Michigan Association of Nonpublic Schools (MANS), and supporters of nonpublic education more time to make the case for why nonpublic school students should receive state support, and the 2,300-plus grassroots messages sent this past week are an important starting point for this continued advocacy.
These outreach efforts are important considering even long-running spending provisions for nonpublic schools approved in previous budgets and signed into law by the Governor have been cut or threatened with being cut in recent years.
That includes this year, as the Governor and Senate have put forth proposals that did not include nonpublic schools in essential spending programs, such as the safety improvement grants, which schools across the state have relied on to make necessary security upgrades that are often too expensive to invest in apart from state help.
The House’s proposed budget allocated $40 million in its proposal for nonpublic schools to pay for many of these essential services as local schools see fit, including for safety, mental health, increased access to meals, and literacy training for teachers.
MCC and MANS will continue their discussions with lawmakers and keep grassroots supporters like you updated as efforts to secure state support for nonpublic students continue.
To continue to help make the case for state support of nonpublic schools, the following video features perspectives from school leaders about what nonpublic schools offer to their communities and the broader public. Please feel free to share this with those who could benefit from watching it.
MCC Offers Reflection on Bishop Mengeling Upon News of His Death
This week, former Lansing Bishop Carl Mengeling passed into eternal life at the age of 94.
He was appointed the fourth shepherd of the Diocese of Lansing in 1995 and served until his retirement in 2008. As bishop, he also served on the MCC Board of Directors, which included service on several board committees.
Reflecting on his life, MCC President and CEO Paul Long said in a statement released by MCC that “Bishop Mengeling was first and foremost a pastor. He treated everyone with dignity and the respect a pastor shows his flock.”
Long also credited Bishop Mengeling as the driving force behind the creation of a statewide education program on assisted suicide in 1997, which prepared Catholics in Michigan to help defeat a ballot proposal in 1998 that would have legalized the practice.
Bishop Mengeling was also adamant that the Church, as employer, live up to its social teachings, especially in the provision of health and pension benefits, Long said. MCC continues this mission today as the provider and administrator of benefits for Church employees and retirees in this state.
For more information about the life of Bishop Mengeling, as well as information regarding his funeral rites, please click or tap here to visit the Diocese of Lansing website.
May the soul of Bishop Mengeling, and all the souls of the faithfully departed, rest in the sleep of peace. Amen.
This Independence Day, Pray for God’s Blessing and Guidance for Our Country
The annual celebration of our country’s founding serves as a reminder to pray for God’s blessing and guidance of this nation.
If individuals attend Mass on Independence Day, the presiding priest may opt to use the Mass texts approved for use in the dioceses of the United States that pertain to this intention.
Here is one prayer from that Mass, drawn from the Prayer after Communion, that you may wish to join your prayer to:
May the love we share in the Eucharist, heavenly Father,
flow in rich blessing throughout our land
and by your grace, may we as a nation
place our trust in you and seek to do your will.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.