Michigan lawmakers went home without passing a new budget for K-12 schools Thursday night. That’s despite both meeting for hours and a statutory July 1 deadline for getting an entire state budget done.
It appears part of the holdup is how to handle earmarks for programs like free school lunches or mental health services. The Democratic-led Senate wants them maintained while the Republican-controlled House of Representatives wants to cut them in favor of giving districts more money per student.
House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp) is also trying to get a road funding plan passed alongside the school budget.
Hall spoke to reporters Thursday night after spending hours negotiating with Senate leadership, the governor, and their teams. He said the leaders were leaving with “a roadmap” that will help them get a deal done next week.
“The House Republicans are committed to working through the weekend, working tomorrow, and working more tonight. Working over the weekend with our goal of still trying to get something done on roads and education by July 1,” Hall said.
Hall said he believed his Democratic counterparts worked better with added pressure from that deadline. He claimed the Senate adding more session days to its calendar for next week as a win.
The Senate had planned to take the first two weeks of July off.
All sides of the negotiating table say they're optimistic about getting something done, acknowledging it would be difficult.
Reporters caught State Budget Director Jen Flood leaving the governor's office at the state Capitol Thursday night. She said negotiators were "having great conversations," when pressed for a comment.
Democrats, however, are still frustrated by the time crunch. They accuse House Republicans of delaying the process by waiting until a couple weeks ago to release their school budget proposal.
Representative Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn) is the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee.
“We are seeing a budget process that normally takes months to play out, playing out within a span of four to five days,” Farhat said. “We shouldn’t be in this spot right now where we’re five days before the [statutory] deadline contemplating whether or not we’ll have this budget. So school districts don’t have to keep wondering and teachers don’t have to keep wondering if they’re going to be pink slipped or not.”
Hall said he and House Republicans have been vocal about wanting to keep to the July 1 deadline for months. Democrats have as well, though some have raised doubts in recent weeks about that feasibility without having a complete budget proposal from the House.
The odds of passing a full state budget next week are dim.
