By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-863155.mp3
LANSING, MI – The state House and Senate have only a few more hours to finalize a budget deal before the end of the fiscal year. But negotiations are progressing slowly.
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Fierce negotiations over the K-12 school budget, Medicaid and local government revenue sharing have slowed the final stages of a budget deal.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop says he's continuing to negotiate with Democratic House Speaker Andy Dillon.
"Every budget that we've had so far, we've had some intervention in, and push-pull. We've given and we've taken and it's part of the process. It's negotiation," Bishop says.
So far all the budgets passed maintained 1.2 (b) billion dollars in cuts, as proposed by the Republican-controlled Senate in June.
The budgets must be on Governor Granholm's desk by midnight. Or the Legislature must pass a continuation budget to keep spending at current levels until a deal is reached.