Lansing — Michigan lawmakers will have one day this week to beat their self-imposed deadline for setting the state budget, after leadership announced there would be no voting Tuesday in the House and Senate.
Under state law, the Legislature requires itself to pass a new funding plan for schools, universities and state government on or before July 1 each year. However, there’s no penalty for violating the provision and the new fiscal year doesn’t begin until Oct. 1.
Some lawmakers had been hopeful that budget votes would take place in the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate Tuesday night, a day before the deadline.
However, that optimism was tarnished on Monday when House leadership informed its members that there would be no voting on Tuesday, according to two House members with knowledge of the plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss them publicly.
Both members said they expected long session days on the budget to take place either Wednesday or Thursday, potentially lasting into Friday morning. The office of House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, didn’t respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Rosie Jones, spokeswoman for Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, confirmed later Monday that the Senate also wouldn’t be convening on Tuesday.
“We are continuing to work around the clock to get a quality budget done,” Jones said.
Sen. Jon Bumstead, R-North Muskegon, said it’s possible budget votes take place on Thursday night, a day after the annual July 1 deadline. Bumstead said negotiations between the two chambers rolled on throughout the weekend.
“It sounds like there’s some agreement on things,” said Bumstead, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee. “And there are things we’ve got to take care of yet.”
In 2019, the Michigan Legislature passed the law requiring the state budget to the approved by July 1 each year, in part to help school districts whose calendar year runs from July 1 through June 30.
However, the Legislature has frequently cruised past that July 1 deadline and, last year, lawmakers didn’t reach a final agreement until after the fiscal year began on Oct. 1.
Last week, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan legislative leaders announced they had reached a deal on the framework for the state budget. But so far, the details of the proposal that have been made public have been sparse.
Hall has called for property tax relief as part of the budget and has spoken out against tax increases that Whitmer included in her initial budget plan in February. Whitmer offered an $88.1 billion proposal with a bevy of new taxes on smokers, gamblers and digital advertising.
Jen Flood, Whitmer’s budget director, previously said the state was facing a $1.8 billion financial gap.
Health care costs have jumped, lawmakers have recently dedicated more tax dollars to roads, and the federal government, led by Republican President Donald Trump, is forcing states to pay a larger share of the costs of food assistance for low-income families.
Despite the hurdles, there have been positive talks in the Capitol about the new budget, ahead of the November election, in which every seat in the Legislature will be on the ballot.
In a statement, House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri, D-Canton, said Democrats “have been in alignment from the beginning about protecting the services and programs that matter most to Michiganders, despite a tighter budget this year.”
“While Republicans did allow it to come down to the wire, conversations with fellow Democratic leaders allow me to be optimistic we get the budget done this week, and it will be good to give schools and communities the financial certainty Republicans robbed them of for so many months past the budget deadline last year,” Puri added.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
Staff Writer Beth LeBlanc contributed.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Michigan lawmakers near budget deadline as uncertainty looms
Reporting by Craig Mauger, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Craig Mauger, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
