LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The Michigan House on Tuesday passed a $78.5 billion state budget on a 59-45 vote, advancing a GOP-backed spending plan to the Senate after weeks of stalemate.
House Republican leaders are branding it as the “Value for MI Dollars” budget. They say it includes $3.1 billion for roads, $140 million for public safety and ends state taxes on tips and overtime pay.
Republicans also say the plan cuts more than $5 billion in waste and eliminates thousands of unfilled state positions. The package now heads to the Senate for negotiations ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline.
“We have passed the Value for MI Dollars Budget,” Michigan Speaker of the House Matt Hall, R-Richland, said in a livestream on his social media. “We’ve identified $5 billion of waste, fraud and abuse in the state budget and today the House passed a budget that cuts all of that waste, fraud and abuse and sets better priorities for your tax dollars: roads, public safety and education. We stopped the lobbyists, politicians and bureaucrats dead in their tracks and put the people first with this budget.”
State Rep. Julie Brixie, D-Okemos, said she was given an hour to review the proposed 808-page budget before the vote was called.
“There have not been committee hearings, it has not passed out of committee,” said Brixie in a Facebook video. “The processes that were used in this go-around of the budget deviated from every kind of past process we’ve had before.”
Brixie voted no, but said she’s “excited” that the House passed a budget so negotiations with the Senate can begin.
The Michigan House Dems posted on X this evening, criticizing the budget as rushed.
“Budgets reflect values,” the post said. “Clearly, House Republicans value deals made in the shadows, rammed through at the last minute, more than protecting the services Michiganders need.”
Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Curtis Hertel also released a statement.
“House Republicans have failed to do their jobs and blew past the budget deadline so they could pass cuts to essential programs like free school meals, job training programs, and funding for state police,” said Hertel. “They brought the process to a screeching halt, and now, they’re pushing a budget that will raise costs for Michiganders.
The Michigan AFL-CIO has also commented on what they called a “last-minute” budget, additionally calling it a “political stunt.”
“Michigan House Republicans asked for an extension and then waited until the last second to turn in the assignment — with zero hearings or public input,” said Ron BIEBER, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO. “This budget is being balanced on the backs of workers. Their lack of planning should not constitute an emergency for Michiganders — but it’s headed that way. I urge Republican lawmakers to get serious and stop playing political games with the budget. Real people’s lives and livelihoods are at stake. They deserve better than political stunts.
This article will be updated as more reactions come in.
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