ICYMI: State House Republicans Hold Budget Process Hostage

With Senate Dems’ general and education budgets in limbo since May, House Republicans are refusing to come to the table in good faith 

LANSING - In case you missed it, Matt Hall has led the state House Republican caucus into a stalemate with the Senate as he refuses to engage in the budget process. The Senate passed a full general fund and education budget in May, but House Republicans have not come to the table in good faith to negotiate a budget and avoid a government shutdown. 

For all their bluster, Matt Hall and state House Republicans do not have any real budget on the table - they’re all talk as usual. They clearly don’t care about truly getting it done; as state Senator Sarah Anthony noted, “The most frustrating part about this year has been not having a willing and serious partner in the House Republicans.”

Read more about the stalled budget process below: 

Michigan Advance: ‘I can’t punch air’: budget chasm continues as Michigan Legislature fails to hold session

• For the state Senate’s part, the chamber passed a full budget funding the government, as well as its K-12 and higher education budgets, in May, teeing up the House to do the same. However, the Senate has not issued a full funding plan for fixing Michigan roads…
• In an interview with Michigan Advance on Friday, state Sen. Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that although the federal budget has passed, the House has still not been communicative about its plans to fund the rest of state government.
• “They have thrown out very, very expensive tax proposals. Income tax relief, an over $100 million Public Safety Trust Fund proposal, very expensive proposals. But yet, you’ve got to show the whole picture,” Anthony said. “It has been frustrating to wait while they contemplate this federal budget. Well, you know what? Now we’re here. We are now at a place where the clock is ticking and it’s time for us to start having real conversations.”
• As to the holes created by the federal government’s tax and spending cut plan, which was signed into law by Trump on July 4, Anthony said 40% of the state’s budget comes from federal funding, including Michigan’s Medicaid program, which provides one in four Michigan residents with vital health care.
• Approximately 1.5 million people in Michigan rely on SNAP food assistance benefits, Anthony added, and those two components in the federal budget combined would set Michigan up for a $2 billion deficit. 
• “It is critical for us to look at this year’s budget in a way that we’ve never looked at any budget before in recent history because of the impact on social services,” Anthony said. “Things that provide food and health care to people… Budgets are moral documents, and so, if we’re looking at this moment as a way to invest in children and senior citizens and our low income families, and what they need to survive, our budget would in no way be able to fill every single gap that this federal bill has created in our state…”
• In contrast, Anthony said the Senate passed what it considered a fiscally responsible and balanced budget, which included things like universal school meals and community college guarantees, and grant programs for small businesses and farmers so they have some relief from Trump’s tariff moves.
• “We put it all on the table,” Anthony said. “We take the criticism and the praise, but we built a budget … contemplating what we assumed would be the impact of some of these pretty dangerous federal cuts. The most frustrating part about this year has been not having a willing and serious partner in the House Republicans…”
• “This isn’t anything new,” Anthony said. “We need more reasonable actors at the table.”