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Michigan lawmakers will head to deer camp, leaving the victims of their budget manipulations to wait until probably at least December for relief.
The State House scrapped a session scheduled for today that could have afforded a last-minute vote to resolve the budget crisis.
The impasse began six weeks ago, when the Republican-led legislature sent a bill dominated by its spending priorities to Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
She responded by vetoing nearly a billion dollars in appropriations, and using the state Administrative Board to reassign more than a half-billion more.
Cuts included money for rural hospitals, small school districts, sheriff’s patrols, and cash paid to local governments in lieu of property taxes for state-owned land.
The legislature’s traditional late fall break coincides with the firearm deer season.
Lawmakers could be called back into session if behind-the-scenes negotiations produce a deal, but even Governor Whitmer admitted today that’s unlikely.
