Michigan is a little more than a week away from the deadline to adopt a budget, and there are no signals a bipartisan deal in the Legislature is any closer to averting a partial state government shutdown on October 1.
The Michigan Senate gaveled in and gaveled out Monday with light attendance and a lighter agenda.
There are just a few days to go before the start of the state’s new fiscal year, when there is a constitutional obligation to have a balanced budget in place. With a Republican-led House and a Senate controlled by Democrats, a budget deal is impossible without bipartisan agreement.
Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) has said she plans to add more session days to the calendar in hopes of negotiating an end to the budget standoff.
The Democratic governor said Monday she still thinks it is possible to get the new budget wrapped up on time.
“I’ve already signed six balanced, bipartisan budgets, this year should be no different,” Whitmer said at an event in Kentwood to defend keeping universal free school meals in the budget, according to a report from WWMT-TV.
Whitmer’s administration has still not shared its plans to handle a partial shutdown – to the chagrin of public employee unions, school personnel, families with K-through-12 students and others that are already feeling the effects of the state budget standoff.
House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) laid blame with Democrats for refusing to adopt a stripped-down Republican budget plan back in March.
“Once again, Republicans are delivering solutions for Michiganders while Democrats put politics before people,” he said in a social media post.
But the GOP plan would have eliminated many of the Democrats’ priorities in the interim while budget negotiations continued. Democratic leaders said they want to adopt a completed budget, including a bipartisan plan for funding roads.
