Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, flanked by Reps. Matt Maddock, R-Milford, and Ann Bollin, R-Brighton, at a news conference Wednesday at the Capitol building in Lansing. (Kyle Davidson/Michigan Advance)

With less than a month left until the end of Michigan’s fiscal year, the Republican-led House of Representatives and the Democratic-led Senate are seemingly no closer to a final budget.

During a Wednesday news conference, Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, told reporters that they’re “not getting anywhere” in negotiations with the Senate, continuing to criticize the upper chamber for their failure to present a road funding plan.

While the budget proposal put forth by the House allocates $3.4 billion to road repairs, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer putting forth her road funding plan in February, the Senate is the sole negotiator left without a proposal for a new funding model.

Transparency surrounding legislative spending directives, otherwise known as earmarks or pork projects, remained a key division between the chambers. While the House instituted rules requiring lawmakers to submit their funding requests for review, Hall argued the Senate wants to continue the status quo, not disclosing their earmarks until after the bill is signed.

“I’m not going to sign up for another bill where we spend hundreds of millions of dollars that we don’t know what it is until way after the bill is signed, and then you guys tell us what they are months later and we find out it was all scandalous. Let’s disclose it now, like we did,” Hall told reporters.

In a statement posted to social media, Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, hit back on accusations that she has been the issue in budget negotiations.

“When you’re taking breakfast and lunch from kids to balance your budget, I’m going to have a problem with that. When you gut health care and supports for moms and babies, then yeah, I’m going to be a problem. When you’re cutting hundreds of police officers and services for crime victims, you better believe I’m going to cause a problem,” Brinks said. “That’s his plan. And I pledge to the people of Michigan that I will be a “problem” until Republicans start putting them first. I’m in your corner and I’m not going anywhere.”

While House Republicans’s school funding plan included an increase to per-pupil funding, Democrats and education advocates have spoken out against the proposal, as those classroom dollars would need to be used to fund other programs like free school lunches and at-risk programs.

During the press conference, Hall, alongside House Appropriations Committee Chair Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Township, and Minority Vice Chair Matt Maddock, R-Milford, responded to several criticisms of their budget – including the reduction in funding for 300 full time employee positions within the state police – alleging that several state departments had overbudgeted for hiring, requesting state funds for hundreds of unfilled positions and retaining those funds.

When asked how many of these positions were open due to retirements or other temporary vacancies, the lawmakers could not immediately provide an answer.

“It is very hard to get this information out of the departments. It’s very, very difficult. We do have regular reports that we get, but they don’t want to disclose the information,” Bollin said.

With a new fiscal year beginning on Oct. 1, lawmakers have until the end of the day on Tuesday, Sept. 20, to reach an agreement, pass a budget and avert a government shutdown.

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