LANSING – Michigan lawmakers approved a continuation budget in the early morning hours of Oct. 1 to keep the state government running through Oct. 8, after missing the original fiscal year deadline.
The temporary measure, signed by the governor, came after state spending authority had briefly lapsed.
“The authority for state government to spend money was generally suspended for new expenses for a few hours overnight,” said Steven Liedel, a member at Dykema law firm.
House Appropriations Chair Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Township, said budget framework negotiations have made headway.
“As a result of the negotiations, the framework that set out, we have settled upon what our budget is going to look like,” she said.
But House Democratic Leader Ranjeev Puri of Canton Township indicated more work remains.
“Procedurally, we still need to get the budget finalized and drafted and then into all the hands of the legislators,” he said.
When asked about the budget process this year, Puri stated, “It’s been a disaster.”
While legislative leaders work to complete and vote on the budget, local officials are raising alarms about potential cuts to municipal funding.
“You’re talking about now eliminating a portion of our top portions of revenue. Obviously, that’s going to have impact on us locally,” said Erik Tungate, Oak Park city manager, expressing concern about proposed reductions in both constitutional and statutory revenue sharing.
The ongoing budget discussions have also sparked concerns in the cannabis industry about a potential new tax.
“Really it’s what we are calling apocalyptic tax right now that is going to gut the entire cannabis industry, so we are just trying to push back,” said Seth Miller, owner of Growing Pains.
A final budget vote is expected in both the House and Senate on Thursday, Oct. 2 evening.
Bollin sought to reassure constituents, stating, “I really do want the people to have confidence in state government.”
The temporary budget maintains current spending levels while lawmakers work to finalize the full fiscal year 2026 budget.