By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
LANSING, MI – State House Speaker Andy Dillon tried to turn down the heat today on his feud with Governor Granholm, and said Democrats are still on the same side in the budget debate in Lansing. Granholm and Dillon engaged in a round of name-calling Tuesday over progress on the state budget.
Dillon said his tiff with the governor dealt with the procedure and timing of voting on budget bills. But he says they still agree that big cuts being called for by Republicans are a bad idea, and the state's going to have to find additional revenue to balance the budget.
"I think she and I are on the same page when it comes to, really, what the fight is about right now, if you look to next year's budget is we don't believe in eliminating all scholarships for college kids," he says. "We don't believe in a 20% cut to revenue sharing. We don't believe in cuts to early ed. We don't believe in cuts to Medicaid."
Dillon says he expects the next round of budget action to begin next week. Governor Granholm has another budget meeting with legislative leaders on Friday.