Budget talks remained stalled in Lansing Wednesday as K-12 schools, public universities, and community colleges prepared to start classes without being able to include state funding in their plans.
Under a 2019 state law, the Legislature is supposed to finalize a budget deal by July 1, but there's no penalty in the statute for missing that date.
There is, however, support among legislative leadership for adding consequences.
Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall, a Republican, has supported withholding lawmakers’ pay for missing the July 1 deadline.
“If we had had legislation in place that took away the politicians’ pay if they missed their deadline on a budget, I would’ve got a deal done before July 1,” Hall said.
Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, a Democrat, said there’s strong support for withholding lawmakers’ pay on her side of the Capitol building too.
“Clearly the law that was passed in ’19, that does not have teeth, was not effective this year,” Brinks said.
So far, neither side has actually brought forward a bill to dock pay as a consequence for not passing a budget.
With the July deadline in the past now, the more pressing deadline is October 1, when the state's fiscal year begins. Without a budget by then, nonessential state government services would shut down.
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