GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — As Gov. Rick Snyder visited Grand Rapids to tout a student competition aimed at promoting math, lawmakers were also focused on the math of keeping Michigan running.
Budget crunch time is underway again in Lansing. The legislature is back in session with a self-imposed deadline to get a spending deal done in about six weeks.
Snyder is confident lawmakers can piece together, pass and move the spending bill to his desk by late May or early June.
Approving the budget by then isn’t required but has been commonplace since Snyder took office and Republicans took control of the House and Senate. Snyder thinks it will happen again this year.
“I think we’re on a normal pace and normal track to get a good budget done by June. That should be the goal we’re all aspiring to hit, and that’s what I’ve heard from people,” he told 24 Hour News 8 during his Grand Rapids visit Tuesday.
Many legislators are also optimistic that a spending plan can be approved in the next few weeks. However, there is a lingering question of whether House leadership will again press for an income tax cut, which could change spending levels.
An earlier proposal to roll back the state income tax from 4.25 percent to 3.9 percent failed.
The budget is required by law to be in place by Sept. 30.