The Michigan House Democratic leader said Friday that he is pessimistic a bipartisan budget deal can be reached in time to avert a partial state government shutdown before the October 1 deadline.
House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton) said the blame rests squarely on House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) and his combative leadership. But, Puri said with a divided Legislature – Democrats control the Senate -- Hall has no choice but to negotiate and make concessions.
“And so as much as Matt Hall wants to project that he is the judge, jury and executioner of all things Lansing, the reality is that he is not the Senate majority leader, he is not the governor, and so without true bipartisan work, nothing is going to get done,” he said on the Michigan Public Television show “Off The Record.”
“When you have someone that’s leading the institution that is insecure and wants to be a bully and lead with disparaging and name calling and just being mean, that’s going to obviously have a devastating effect to what happens in how the institution’s run,” he said.
Hall acknowledged the relationship between the House leaders is almost non-existent, but he said the problem is Puri’s “negative approach to governing.” Hall said that is why he has called for direct negotiations between him, Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids).
“He has no solutions,” Hall said in a phone interview. “He doesn’t try to problem-solve and all he does is complain.”
The House heads into next week with less than a month to wrap up the budget for state departments and agencies. The Legislature has also already missed the July 1 deadline for the K-12 schools, community colleges and public universities budgets.
The House adopted a GOP version of a budget plan last week that cuts millions of dollars from many state departments and agencies. Hall said savings from cutting “waste, fraud and abuse,” which includes the state’s major business incentives program, would balance the budget and leave money left for roads.
Puri is a former chair of the House transportation budget subcommittee. He acknowledged that a balanced budget will require some spending cuts, but he said the GOP budget plan is unrealistic. He also said it will take a combination of revenue sources to raise the billions of dollars needed for a roads plan.
“The reality is that we need to find a multi-billion dollar solution that’s sustainable, that’s not just a patchwork of a couple talking points that’s going to work for a year or two,” Puri said. “And if we want to do this the right way then we are going to have to bring some new revenue into the equation.”
For a weekly dose of news right to your inbox, sign up for the WGVU newsletter.
