Gov. Whitmer Calling On Lawmakers To Finish Budget

whitmerbudget2019-5
whitmerbudget2019-5

Governor Whitmer gave her budget proposal to the Legislature six months ago, and the current fiscal year ends in just over a month. No budget has been sent to her. Whitmer says now is the time for Republican leaders in the House and Senate to get it done.

“The infrastructure crisis is 25 years in the making, and the education crisis is as well,” Whitmer said on Tuesday. “It is time for us to get it right, and we can do it in this budget.

“But I’m not going to sign a budget that does not have serious steps forward on all these fronts.”

Under former Governor Rick Snyder, the budget was done and signed into law every year before the House and Senate went on summer recess. However, he had the advantage of being a Republican with GOP majorities in the Capitol. Under the last Democrat to hold the governor’s office, Jennifer Granholm, the state had two budget shutdowns in 2007 and 2009. In 2007, the House had a Democratic majority not on the same page with the governor’s priorities, while the Senate was in Republican control as it has been since 1984.

State Budget Director Chris Kolb has sent out a memo to all state department heads to tell them to prepare for a possible state government shutdown on October 1, but most around Lansing don’t believe it will come to that.