LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) – Work is continuing in the legislature on the 2025 fiscal year budget. Senate and House committees meet weekly to agree on budget targets for the bills that will make up the final draft.
State Representatives from the Upper Peninsula said the days of work are getting longer, negotiating how to break up program funding for education, economic development, roads, and to lower individual costs.
The first proposal was introduced by Governor Whitmer back in February, The House and Senate passed their own versions last month.
State Representative Dave Prestin (R-Rapid River) said there has been a lot of back and forth trying to find a compromise
“There are ideas on the budget whiplashing back and forth so much that if I followed them, I probably would get whiplash myself… and nobody can agree. There’s so much arguing going on between the Senate and the House over priorities. To everyone, their priority is the most important priority. That’s what we’re here to advocate for. But it’s not necessarily fiscally sound.” Prestin said. “There’s a lot of people that have priorities that they want to bring home, and the reality is we’re running out of money. They spent a lot of money in the last budget cycle, and I think that they’re now starting to realize that sooner or later, we’re going to be in a definite deficit here. The funding mechanisms that we’ve been relying on through COVID and post-COVID, they’re starting to dry up. The reality is starting to come home that we can’t have everything.”
Representative Jenn Hill (D- Marquette) said they may be right down to the wire passing the budget this year.
“We’re coming into the final stretch and so there’s a lot of very intense negotiation going on from the crack of dawn till the late at night, I can affirm. We are working hard to see where we can make the smart investments for education, for our future and economic development, and roads. All those pieces that are critical to the quality of life and lowering people’s costs.” Hill said. “It’s there’s a little bit less money available, but there’s more in general fund. So there’s a lot of hard decisions, but we want them to be smart decisions. I’m going to be making sure that the money comes back to the U.P. that we’re owed and we’ll make smart investments for the entire state.”
The goal is still to have the bills done by the end of June.
