By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
LANSING, MI –
The Michigan Legislature met Wednesday for the first time since taking a break earlier this month. There were no votes on the state budget. But many lawmakers say budget deficit is becoming more serious with every passing week.
Republican state Senator Tom George says Michigan is headed in the direction of Illinois, which is running a deficit of several billion dollars.
"Proposals to eliminate taxes, or increase spending, put our credit at risk," he says. "Fixing our budget structural problem is now our single biggest challenge if we are to keep Michigan open for business."
Republican leaders in the Senate say they are preparing to make deeper-than-expected budget cuts in light of rollbacks to federal Medicaid funding.