Budget talks remained stalled in Lansing as K-12 schools, public universities and community colleges are about to start classes without being able to include state funding in their plans.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday that she remains in touch with Democratic and Republican leaders in the Legislature to try and move talks along. But schools and higher education are already eight weeks into their fiscal year, which began July 1. That is also the deadline set in a state law for the governor and Legislature to have a budget wrapped up.
“We’ve got to get it done and it’s got to get done on time or it’s bad for everybody,” the Democratic governor said.
Whitmer said the problem is political polarization in a Legislature with a Republican-controlled House and a Senate run by Democrats.
“In governance, it’s not new, but I think that it’s more acute and more concerning now than ever,” she said. “We’re seeing it in Washington D.C. It’s been going on for quite a while. I am working hard to make sure that we don’t see that kind of gridlock here in Michigan.”
The state is also six weeks away from the beginning of its fiscal year, when state departments need to be funded. The governor said the work is getting down to the wire.
“You can’t send bills to the governor on October 1 and think that they go into effect that day,” she said. “The budget’s got to get done at least a week in advance of that, if not two. And, so, yeah, we’re down to a matter of weeks.”
The situation is also complicated by last month’s federal budget law, which has boosted Michigan’s Medicaid and food assistance program costs. A Citizens Research Council of Michigan study says the law will cost the state $1.1 billion.
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