By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-860288.mp3
LANSING, MI – There are 16 days until the deadline to complete a new state budget. Talks will resume in Lansing this week to try and resolve the impasse. The Democratic leader of the state House says he expects there will be budget votes this week.
AUDIO:
House Speaker Andy Dillon says the goal is to have a House plan to put on the table alongside proposals from Governor Granholm and the Republican-controlled Senate. Dillon says he expects the House plan will be similar to the governor's in many respects.
This is Dillon on the Michigan Public Television show "Off the Record."
"House Democrats and the governor are fighting to fund early education, the scholarships for college students, Medicaid, and funding police and fire, and that's really the debate right now."
Dillon says House Democrats might have some different ideas from the governor on raising revenue to support those programs. She's called for taxes on bottled water and live entertainment, and reducing tax breaks for businesses and working poor families.
The Senate plan calls for bigger cuts that such as eliminating the state's universal college scholarship.