By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-908757.mp3
LANSING, MI – The Legislature and Governor Granholm appear no closer to a budget deal than they were last week. Their self-imposed July 1st deadline to wrap-up budgets for schools and local governments is fast approaching.
The governor and House Democratic leaders rejected a Senate Republican proposal last week. The Democrats say the GOP plan had too many cuts to critical services.
And the governor has had little luck convincing her fellow Democrats to approve incentives to convince veteran state employees to retire. Their replacements would be hired with less-generous salaries and benefits. But the governor says she has not given up.
"I'm going to continue to push to make it happen, and I hope that that legislators see that is a better solution than having to do something that nobody wants to do such as having to cut education or revenue sharing further," Granholm says.
The governor says she would only accept using a School Aid Fund surplus to plug other budget holes in funding for universities or community colleges.
There's no word of new budget meetings scheduled between the governor and legislative leaders.