Mich. gov says budget talks should move faster

WKAR Public Media

Published August 26, 2009 at 4:41 PM EDT

By AP

LANSING, MI – Gov. Jennifer Granholm says there's a "ridiculously short" amount of time left to get the state budget done and avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1.

Speaking at a Wednesday news conference, the Democratic governor said budget talks are continuing between the state budget director and the heads of the Senate and House appropriations committees.

She expressed frustration at how long it's taking to reach a
budget deal. Granholm says it's ridiculous "that we are at the end of August
and we're not there yet."

Senate Republican leaders say they've passed bills putting a budget in place. But their $1.2 billion in cuts aren't acceptable to Granholm or Democratic lawmakers.

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