LANSING ? Michigan Lawmakers have sent nearly half the 2007-08 budget bills to Governor Jennifer Granholm, and discussions continue on reaching agreement to what has been the major holdup to completing the budget: the Department of Human Services.
The Senate on Tuesday morning approved the conference committee reports on HB 4348, the Department of Corrections budget, HB 4354, the Department of Natural Resources budget, HB 4358, the Department of Environmental Quality budget, and HB 4360, the community colleges budget, sending those onto Granholm. Those budgets joined appropriations for the Departments of Labor and Economic Growth, History, Arts and Libraries, State Police and Military and Veterans Affairs as completed.
Wednesday ? Halloween – is the deadline for the Legislature to complete action on the 2007-08 budget before the 30-day continuation budget expires.
There are early indications that significant progress towards an agreement has been made on the Department of Human Services budget. Officials hope an agreement will be reached by the end of the day.
Meanwhile, discussions continue on whether to allow a study of a Detroit River international crossing in the Department of Transportation budget, and, on another front, officials say they are very close to completing an agreement on the Strategic Fund portion of the General Government budget.
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