LANSING (WWJ) -- There's big news from Lansing, where a deal on the framework for a new state budget has been reached ahead of the July 1 deadline.
Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) on Tuesday announced that a deal between House Republicans, Senate Democrats, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was reached overnight.
One major point of interest: Hall said the budget does not include any tax increases.
"Late last night we got an agreement on framework, so I'm really happy about that," Hall said. "In that framework agreement, we're not gonna see any tax increases, we won't see any raid of the rainy day fund.
"So, those will not happen, which were major lines in the sand that I drew, as you know. And we will see a smaller budget than last year."
Hall said he could not talk about all the details just yet, as they were still working on specific spending figures for departments.
That means that specifics as to spending on things like Department of Education, Michigan State Police and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) may still be up in the air.
How did they settle on that smaller budget?
"You have to figure out, are you gonna raise taxes? Are you gonna take money from the rainy day fund? Or, are you just gonna make cuts? And I think we now know that we're just gonna make cuts, and so that'll be hard for the subcommittee chairs."
Hall said they hoped to reach a deal on the financial particulars by the end of the day on Tuesday, which would give them time to get the votes in both the House and Senate, and then send the completed bills over to the governor to sign before the July 1 deadline.
Timing-wise, this is a huge improvement compared to last year, when a final state budget wasn't signed until October, after a brief overnight government shutdown.
House Speaker Matt Hall says there are no tax increases included
House Speaker Matt Hall says there are no tax increases included
