Lansing Democrats Continue to Hold Up Budget

Lansing, MI – Tomorrow is Michigan’s statutory budget deadline, which means that if the Legislature has not presented a budget to Governor Gretchen Whitmer by 11:59 PM today, it will have failed to meet the deadline. While the Republican-led House spent most of June working in Lansing, Gretchen Whitmer abandoned budget negotiations for another European vacation, her third international trip this year.

While Lansing Democrats may try to shift the blame for any delays to House Republicans, it was the governor who left the state during the middle of negotiations. Republicans have been fighting for months for a responsible budget that cuts spending, and any attempt Senate Democrats or Gretchen Whitmer make to blame Republicans for the budget stall is really just an admission that their party is only interested in a budget that raises taxes and massively grows the state budget.

In contrast to the Republican budget, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks has joined the governor in an effort to raid Michigan’s rainy-day fund so she can fund her caucus’s pork projects.

“Republicans were leading on the budget while Gretchen Whitmer was gallivanting across Europe,” said Gabe Butzke, a spokesperson for Michigan Forward Network. “If the budget is not over the finish line by the July 1 deadline, Michiganders will know who is to blame.”