After championing a budget and road funding framework last week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expressed new uncertainty about the culmination of a deal with state lawmakers Tuesday, Sept. 30, as the clock ticks down to avert a partial state government shutdown.
“I feel confident we will get it done and we’ll be able to continue running government and providing services to the people of Michigan. All the pieces? Not sure that they’ll all get done tonight,” she said during a short interview with the Detroit Free Press after she spoke at a Ford event at Detroit’s Michigan Central. It wasn’t clear from Whitmer’s comments what might be left in limbo when the clock strikes midnight and the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
Whitmer has repeatedly said that there is no budget agreement without a road funding deal, a key priority since her 2018 campaign when she pledged to “fix the damn roads.” The governor had initially sought $3 billion for roads, but the framework she announced with legislative leaders last week would provide nearly $2 billion a year, according to Whitmer’s office.
Asked about the funding gap and the possibility future lawmakers might have to close it, Whitmer said, “You know we’ll talk about that when we’re all done here. It’s not quite finished,” she said before chuckling. Lawmakers have already blown past the July 1 deadline to pass a state budget, and now they’re racing to complete it before the new fiscal year.
Michigan Politics: State budget talks going down to the wire as potential shutdown looms
While Whitmer and state legislative leaders laid out the broad outlines of a budget agreement last week, they left out many key details, including the specifics of school funding. Whitmer, for her part, said that she still sees a path for securing record school funding in the budget.
While she has previously touted free school meals for Michigan students, she wouldn’t say whether those are a red line for her in budget negotiations. “We will talk after we get everything buttoned up,” she said. Asked whether that would happen before or after the budget deadline, Whitmer laughed and said, “We’ll see,” as she hopped in the car and closed the door, hitting the road and making the journey to deliver on her signature issue and secure her first budget under a divided Michigan Legislature.
Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan road, school budget pieces in flux as state deadline looms
