By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-857149.mp3
LANSING, MI – Governor Granholm says she's frustrated with the pace of budget negotiations. But she says it's tough to come up with an agreement on a plan to retire a $2.8 billion dollar deficit.
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The governor says she's confident there won't be a shutdown like the one that occurred in 2007. She says federal stimulus funds will help, but to fill the rest of the budget gap, there's still no deal to raise taxes, or to cut programs that help people weather a tough economy.
The governor says she's committed to preserving the Michigan Promise scholarship at or near its current level of four thousand dollars for every student who completes two years of college or job training, and money to help displaced workers learn new careers.
"To cut those kinds of programs means you'd be cutting off our future, and we don't want to do that," she says. "So the reason why it's taking so long is because it's so difficult to get people to agree."
The state's new fiscal year begins in less than six weeks.