- Michigan officials missed a constitutional deadline to finalize a budget but passed a one-week stopgap spending measure instead
- That means the state government will not immediately shut down, as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said earlier Tuesday
- A budget vote is expected later “this week,” according to Whitmer and legislative leaders
LANSING — Michigan lawmakers on Tuesday failed to finalize a new state budget by midnight, missing a constitutional deadline for the first time in 16 years but later passing a stopgap spending bill to fund the government another week as talks continue.
While a similar impasse prompted a state government shutdown in 2009, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer insisted earlier Tuesday that operations would “continue as normal” this week while the budget is finalized.
In a brief memo released shortly after midnight, Whitmer told state Budget Director Jen Flood that maintaining “continuity of government operations and services” is necessary to “support public health and welfare.”
“I hereby authorize you to take the necessary steps to release payments to support those continuing government operations,” Whitmer wrote.
RELATED:
- Some Michigan schools to limit free student meals — starting Wednesday
- Cannabis group plots lawsuit over new Michigan weed tax plan
- Whitmer: Michigan government ‘will stay open,’ budget coming ‘this week’
Around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, in a 31-2 vote, the Democratic-led Senate amended and approved a $1.6 billion spending plan to ensure “uninterrupted continuous operations of state government” through Oct. 8.
The Republican-led House approved the stopgap spending measure at 1:48 a.m. in a 103-4 vote. Two hours later, Whitmer announced she’d signed the legislation.
“The Michigan state government will stay open,” the governor said in a statement, adding that lawmakers and the administration are “on the verge of making huge progress.”
“In the meantime, state government will continue providing uninterrupted services and state employees will work today, getting things done for their fellow Michiganders.”
The unusual arrangement to fund Michigan government operations through Oct. 8 came hours after a breakdown in negotiations between President Donald Trump and Congress led to a federal government shutdown.
House Majority Floor Leader Brian Posthumus, R-Rockford, predicted officials will finalize a full budget Thursday. But that is not “set in stone,” he told reporters shortly before 2 a.m.
Deadline missed, budget ‘deal’ outlined
Under the Michigan Constitution, the state treasury cannot make any payments not approved by law. The governing document also required a balanced budget by the time the new fiscal year began at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
But the Constitution does not explicitly state that the government must stop operating altogether without a budget, said Steve Liedel, an attorney who served as legal counsel to then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm during brief shutdowns in 2007 and 2009.
Whitmer “can still incur obligations” and pay back any possible debts created during a shutdown, he told Bridge Michigan. It is not “a matter of ‘open’ or ‘closed’,” he added.
Whitmer, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks and Republican House Speaker Matt Hall announced last week they’d agreed to a budget “framework” to avoid a government shutdown.
They outlined some new details of that agreement Tuesday, saying it will include “record per-pupil education funding, free breakfast and lunch, public safety investments” and previously announced road funding.
But Whitmer and legislative leaders acknowledged that budget bills had not yet been drafted, so were not yet ready to be voted on.
Lawmakers, who had convened at 10 a.m., did little throughout the day while awaiting budget bills but remained in session early Wednesday.
The Senate was expected to vote on separate “budget implementation bills,” including a House-approved plan to create a new 24% wholesale tax on marijuana projected to raise $420 million a year for road repairs.
In the first year of Michigan’s newly divided state Legislature, Republicans and Democrats proposed significantly different spending plans and already missed a July 1 deadline written into state law.
House Republicans approved a $78.5 billion budget. Senate Democrats approved an $84.5 billion plan. Whitmer had proposed an $84 billion plan of her own but separately called for new road funding.
— Lauren Gibbons contributed
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under our Republication Guidelines. Questions? Email republishing@bridgemi.com
