Michigan's spending

GOP leaders want to include $500 million in road funding in the budget. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and other Democrats say that may get in the way of a long-term deal to commit $2.5 billion a year that’s needed for roads.

The Oct. 1 deadline for Michigan lawmakers to pass the $60 billion budget is near. Roads talks have been postponed, but there are more disagreements to solve.

The surprising announcement marks a change for Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who previously vowed to veto any Republican budget plan without roads funding. The change seems intended to prevent a government shutdown on Oct. 1.

As a government shutdown looms, GOP leaders will begin vetting a budget plan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer hasn’t signed off on. The two sides are far apart on roads and infrastructure funding and on whether to raise taxes for the effort. 

Republicans have said the hefty tax hike is dead on arrival. That’s why Democrats should start considering other alternatives to raise $2.5 billion for roads, House Minority Leader Christine Greig said. 

Time is running out for legislative leaders and the governor to come to an agreement on how to spend the state’s nearly $60 billion budget.

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is portraying GOP legislative leaders as failing to seriously negotiate on how to raise $2.5 billion to repair the state’s roads and bridges. Now, the business community is exerting its own pressure on the GOP.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants to solve the state’s crumbling roads with a 45-cent gas tax, money that she says would fix Michigan’s woeful roads. It would cost more but, she said, also save motorists hundreds in repair costs each year.

Senate Republicans adopted a state transportation budget without any new long-term funding for roads. That proposal will come this summer, Republicans said.