2027 budget leaves American Heart Association concerned

Organizations are concerned over the state’s 2027 budget that was signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Tuesday.

The $75 million budget that was passed earlier in July is said to focus on housing opportunities, fixing roads and healthcare. But the American Heart Association (AHA) is speaking out about what is not included in the budget.

AHA said they applaud the $1.4 million allocated for free school breakfast and lunch programs.

“We really do believe that those healthy habits start young,” said Amanda Klein, government relations director of AHA in Michigan. “And if they can start some of those habits early, we hope that that continues on long term so that they’ll just carry those habits through. And then that will help with things like heart health, and they’ll care a little bit more about the things that they’re putting in their body.

Klein said AHA advocated for $6 million to be earmarked in safety grants to help schools develop their cardiac emergency response plans (CERP), but no money was included in the state budget for that.

In 2024, state law made it a requirement that schools and their athletic programs establish a CERP to improve survival rates from sudden cardiac arrest. The plans should include having CPR trained staff, clearly defined emergency protocols and access to life-saving equipment like automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

“Our requirements are AEDs should really be within 3 minutes of wherever you are and on school property, so some of those big schools, they might need multiple AEDs and maybe they only have one or two,” Klein said.

AHA said it only costs about $5 to teach someone CPR but AEDs can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 per unit and that the $6 million figure they asked for would have covered AEDs and CPR training for all schools in the state of Michigan. They are hoping to see the funding come through in a supplemental budget later this year.