LANSING -While budget discussions continue between Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) and House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.), the Senate is making ready to pass originated budget bills at Wednesday’s session. And if it does pass the bills as they came from committee, with most close to the funding levels proposed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, then Democrats are prepared to argue that means the Legislature will enact up to $1.5 billion in tax increases.
As the full Legislature prepares to return to work this week, Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Cropsey (R-DeWitt) informed members to tentatively schedule session on Wednesday, August 29, and the three days following Labor Day – September 4,5 and 6 – as working session days.
The step up in activity occurs as officials say the two leaders, Dillon and Bishop, continue to say they have made progress in their discussions, but thus far have not released any details of what that progress entails.
Apparently officials from the Granholm administration have not been brought into the discussions, which has left a number of observers concerned that whatever agreements the two leaders may reach might still not pass muster with the administration.
According to a variety of sources, Senate leaders plan to run all the bills approved by the Appropriations Committee. There are large series of amendments pending on virtually all the bills, but at least as of Monday afternoon officials planned to win approval of the bills largely unchanged from the manner they were reported from the committee.
If that is the case, one Senate Democratic official said his caucus will be prepared to make the case that Republicans are comfortable with the notion of raising as much as $1.5 billion in tax increases.
So far the discussions between Bishop and Dillon have not dealt with tax increases, sources have indicated. Last week, Bishop said in a radio interview that a tax increase was inevitable, but laid that more at the feet of Granholm.
However, with just over 40 days remaining before the 2007-08 fiscal year begins, officials acknowledge that the pressure to get the budget completed is intensifying.
One Senate Republican said that by the end of the process, “a whole lot of people are going to be unhappy.”
On the House side, the Appropriations Committee has delayed acting on any budgets, save the one for the Department of Agriculture, during its Tuesday meeting. All other budgets are slated for review by the panel when it convenes Wednesday.
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