LANSING – Michigan needs to have the 2007-08 budget completed by September 30, but Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) told reporters on Thursday that so much work needs to be done to the budget in terms of reforms that state policymakers will continue to work on the budget for months to come.

“I’d like to get this done as soon as possible,” Bishop said, “but the focus on this is going to be for months to come, years to come.”

Bishop made the comments as Governor Jennifer Granholm again called on the Legislature to complete work on the budget as quickly as possible.

Asked about comments earlier this week from House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.) that he expected the budget to be done by Labor Day, Ms. Granholm said that every additional day of delay on solving the budget means local government workers facing layoffs, universities raising tuition and cities holding off hiring police officers.

Also Thursday, House Appropriations Chair Rep. George Cushingberry (D-Detroit) announced that the committee will deal with a number of budget bills at its meeting on Wednesday.

However, when he was asked about Dillon’s Labor Day comment, Bishop joked that: “I don’t think Andy knew Labor Day was September 3.”

Bishop praised the work and progress he said he and Dillon are making on budget discussions, but he also said discussions over such issues as what government reforms to tackle are evolving slowly.

Senate officials had initially expected to work on reform proposals this week, but that was held off because a number of legislators were absent. Officials then expected some action would be taken by the Senate next week, but Bishop’s comments opened some doubt on that.

Asked when they would have a list of reforms to work on, Bishop said that process is being developed so that “clarity’ on the proposals is reached.

Work on a “more focused list will come every week,” Bishop said.

He also insisted that it was not unusual for the state to be this late in completing work on the budget. And with so many changes needed to the state budget overall, work will continue for months, he said.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com