State budget negotiations on pause with lawmakers home for July 4

Lansing takes a July 4th break with state budget unfinished

Lawmakers are on vacation while a new state budget remains in limbo.

LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - State lawmakers are home for the holiday to enjoy the fireworks. While under the Capitol dome in Lansing, they left a dud - an unfinished budget just sort of sitting there.

The backstory:

Among the areas impacted, school districts needed to know by July first how much they would get from the state to write their budgets.

Don Wotruba is the executive director of the Michigan Association of School Boards.

"We can't negotiate contracts without knowing how much money we are getting from the state," he said. "We have a hard time setting up programs. As we've heard through the media the last year, that there are districts looking to make possible staffing changes, possible staffing reductions. We don't know at what level, without knowing what the legislature is doing."

The legislative triangle of leaders Winnie Brinks (D), Senate Majority Leader, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and GOP  Speaker of the House Matt Hall were making progress on how to spend your $30 billion-plus of your tax dollars.

But they could not agree on whether to fix the roads and schools at the same time or separate the issues.

In the background the GOP and Democrat chairs of the K-12 budget, Tim Kelly and Darrin Camelleri were also making progress in negotiations.

They may have come up with a deal including the speaker giving ground on allowing the Democrats to state fund the free school breakfast and lunch program. 

The Democrats got a win there, but it meant nothing because they didn't have a final number to reach for spending and without that, they could do nothing.

So circle July 15 when lawmakers are scheduled to return. 

But if the leaders reach a deal before that, they could come back earlier. If not, the finger-pointing will continue.