Note, 10/01, 6 p.m. — This story has been updated with new quotes and more information on spending items that lawmakers have agreed to.
LANSING — Michigan lawmakers suffered an hours-long shutdown early Wednesday morning, later agreeing on a deal to extend current funding through Oct. 8.
Gov. Whitmer said shortly before 5 a.m. Wednesday that the state government would remain open, the latest addition to months of uncertainty over the direction of state funding.
Whitmer said that her and lawmakers were “on the verge of making huge progress” with the plan, but significant questions remained.
“In the end, we ended up passing a continuation budget, which extends last year’s agreed upon budget for another seven days,” said House Democratic Leader Ranjeev Puri, (D) District 24, Canton.
Lawmakers say that they hope to finalize their proposals in the next day and getting them to the governor before this weekend.
“We’re probably going to get her that budget tomorrow, and she’s going to need a few days to go through it with her legal team, and we hope to have this thing wrapped up by midweek, next week,” said Rep. Ken Borton, (R) District 105, Gaylord.
State leaders still have not accounted for tens of billions of dollars in spending, including funding for state services and public education.
“There aren’t many details about what’s in this agreement, which to me, suggests it’s pretty fragile and not actually completely worked out yet,” said Nicole Mathew, an Oakland University political science professor.
But lawmakers said Wednesday afternoon that some items had been agreed on, including $14 million for Northern Michigan ice storm recovery.
That’s separate from a $100 million aid proposal passed that through the House earlier this year and still has not received a vote in the state Senate.
House Republicans also said Wednesday that the per-pupil funding allowance — the amount that schools get for each of their students — was agreed to at $10,050, up from about $9,600 currently.
This figure is slightly higher than those included in Democratic proposals and far from the more than $11,000 that Republicans had proposed.
The temporary agreement appears to have calmed fears of a prolonged state government shutdown, and has allowed lawmakers to keep their attention on budget negotiations.
“We do want to make make sure that we are preserving funding for our schools,” Puri said. “Making sure that kids can eat, making sure our hospitals can stay open and nurses and doctors can work, making sure that troopers are on our highways, making sure that new pavement is laid on our roads.”
Whitmer commented on the shutdown at a Canadian economic event Wednesday, which she attended hours after signing the continuation budget.
“With a lot of compromise — a lot of compromise — and a little bit of elbow grease, Republicans and Democrats are working together to get it done,” she said.
The governor has since returned to Michigan.