BUDGET UPDATE FOR SEPTEMBER 28, 2009

Over the past week the House and Senate have been working to finalize a budget. We are making progress. We have a bipartisan agreement between the House and Senate to balance the budget without raising taxes and everything seems to be on track.


Here is a break down of what has been passed out of the House already:

Community Colleges
Department of Agriculture
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth
The Judiciary

These bills have passed out of Conference Committees:

School Aid
Higher Education
Department of Education
Department of Corrections

These budgets are still in conference:

Department of Natural Resources/Department of Environmental Quality
Department of Community Health
Department of Human Services
Department of Transportation
General Government (AG, SOS, Revenue Sharing, etc.)

The bills that are in conference are still being worked on and the Speaker hopes that we will be done and voting on these bills by Tuesday the 29th. If this doesn’t happen, House and Senate Republicans have introduced, and the Senate has passed, a continuation budget to keep the state running for another month if a budget can't be finalized.

The House Republicans are staying strong to their message that it's time for government to take a hard look at reforming how it does business. The reductions in the budgets are a grim reality of the revenue situation our state faces. The Michigan Business Tax surcharge is killing business growth and start-ups all over the state.

These next few days will be important not just for the coming fiscal year but for years to come. We have an opportunity to shape and mold our state for years to come. I will be continuing to update about the budget situation as events occur. Follow my updates on Facebook and Twitter. The House will be back in session on Tuesday and Wednesday starting at 10:00am.