The Republican state House leader won’t guarantee that Michigan will have a new balanced budget in place by the rapidly approaching July 1 deadline.
In a press conference this week, House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) said he is willing to hold out for a new budget that cuts spending and does not pull money from the state’s “rainy day” savings. He said there are other issues — property taxes, for example — that could play into the negotiations.
Hall would not commit to meeting the deadline a little over two weeks from now, but said the Legislature could adopt a continuation bill that extends current spending until a new budget is wrapped up. Hall said that could last until after the November elections. Every seat in the Legislature as well as an open election for the next governor to succeed term-limited Governor Gretchen Whitmer will be on the November ballot.
“I’m going to try — I’m going to try to get a deal now with Governor Whitmer and (Senate Majority Leader) Winnie Brinks, but if we don’t get a deal then we’ll do it with the next Senate leader and the next governor, who will probably be Republican,” he said.
That idea of a budget extension did not land well with K-12 schools, public universities and community colleges that have fiscal years that begin July 1.
Jennifer Smith with the Michigan Association of School Boards said there can’t be repeat of last year when the Legislature missed the July deadline.
“People were laid off because we didn’t know what budget were going to have,” she told Michigan Public Radio. “Kids return to school with programming that we are not sure we can continue. It’s hard to truly support our students in a positive learning environment when we still don’t even know how much money we’re going to have to run that learning environment.”
Smith said a stopgap continuation budget does not fix that problem.
Senate Democrats and Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s budget office say there is no reason to miss the deadline and certainly not for a second straight year.
“The Legislature is required by law to pass a budget for fiscal year 2027 by the July 1 deadline. Our expectation is that every party will continue working to hit that deadline and pass a budget that continues to save Michiganders money, invests in kids, and protects access to health care,” said a statement issued by the State Budget Office.
Rosie Jones, the press secretary for Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) said a budget deal is in reach.
“Senate Democrats are committed to getting a quality budget done by July 1 — the statutory deadline,” she said. “A lot of good work has been done to this point, and one would hope the House does the responsible thing.”
