By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-863371.mp3
LANSING, MI – State government shut down at midnight for two hours. The Legislature failed to pass a complete budget deal, but approved a bill that would continue funding for one month.
AUDIO:
The House and Senate were stagnant for hours before the final minutes of the fiscal year were punctuated with voting. Governor Granholm said she wouldn't sign anything at the end of the day except for a continuation budget. And the House and Senate struggled to get the votes to pass controversial budgets.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop says the Senate has proposed the only balanced budget.
"So I say to the Governor, I say to the Democratic Party - if you can't put a real solution on the table, stop complaining, stop being part of the problem, move, get out of the way and we'll solve it for you. We're well on our way to doing that, but they just got to get out of the way," Bishop says.
Now the budget bills are with Governor Granholm and Democrats say they want to resume negotiations - this time on finding revenue to restore some of the budget cuts.