Whitmer's proposed budget calls for $392 in additional spending per pupil

(FOX 2) - The Michigan governor released her proposed budget that calls for $83.5 billion in state funding for the upcoming fiscal year.

It calls for hundreds of dollars in additional funding for students in a bid to increase resources for school districts around the state. Now, lawmakers will go to work negotiating their own proposal.

The backstory:

It was budget day in Lansing as the governor unveiled her latest proposal for the upcoming fiscal year. The reveal took place amid uncertainty in Washington D.C. and with so much of Michigan's budget wrapped up in federal dollars, potential cuts could throw any plan into uncertainty.

Some lawmakers hinted at what those negotiations could look like after Donald Trump ordered all federal funding be paused prior to a judge freezing the directive.

"We all were made painfully aware of what disruptions to federal funding look like over the past week with the federal freeze," said Sen. Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak).

Among the biggest requests from Gretchen Whitmer was increasing per-pupil funding by $392, raising the grand total to $10,000 per pupil.

But the potential shuttering of the Department of Education along with federal funding cuts means some critical resources could disappear.

"What would we do to make up that $2.3 billion in cuts," asked state Sen. Darrin Cammilleri (D-Trenton). "We're talking special education funding, school meals for all, Title one funding for our most at-risk students, as well as protections in Title IX and enforcing protecting women in sports."

Dig deeper:

The state budget director said she wasn't sure what would happen, but potential cuts would "cause a lot of chaos in state government."

"We don't have a crystal ball," said Jen Flood.

Michigan does have a $2 billion rainy day fund it could take advantage of, but the deputy budget director ruled that option out.

"The notion of us being able to backstop whether its education or some of the other proposed cuts at the federal level is not really an option," said Kyle Guerrant. "Some different decisions would have to be made on what programs and services would need to be impacted."

In other words, current state programs would have to be cut back to make up any federal losses.

What they're saying:

Across the aisle, Republicans tempered Democrats' concerns about the upcoming budget.

Representative Ann Bollin (R-Brighton Township) said it was "putting noise in the room that's unnecessary."

"I don't think that the president or the federal government wants to cut people off at their knees," she said. "They have the same concerns that we do here at the state level. We want to make sure that taxpayers are getting good value for the tax dollars."