Last week, Michigan’s legislature put the finishing touches on the State of Michigan’s 2018-2019 Fiscal Year budget. The legislature accounted for and appropriated $39.9 billion to the state’s thirteen budget areas, plus an additional $16.8 billion to K-12 schools, community colleges, and universities. The approximately $56.7 billion budget passed with little controversy or fanfare. In fact, prior to the final floor vote, members of the Democratic caucus voted 28-0-3 during conference committees to report the budgets. This is a far cry from Governor Rick Snyder’s first year as governor, which saw a budget passed on partisan lines. Completing the state budget is no easy feat, not only are their strict guidelines to follow, there are also dynamics between the caucus’ to consider.

Michigan’s Constitution outlines the framework for the state’s annual budget process:

• The governor must submit a balanced budget recommendation to the legislature.
• The legislature must pass a budget that is balanced with the estimated revenue available.
• The governor and legislature must make adjustments if the budget becomes out of balance during the year.

Michigan’s fiscal year is October 1 – September 30 and a budget must be in place by the first day of the fiscal year.  However, since 2011, the legislature has self-imposed a deadline to complete the budget in June. Prior to 2011, often the state budget wasn’t completed until the fall. Since school districts and many local governments begin their fiscal year on July 1, that posed problems crafting their budgets while not knowing how much funding they would receive from the state. Completing the state budget early has been very well received by many entities.

Historically, the legislature hasn’t always passed a balanced budget before the end of the fiscal year. Most recently, in 2007 and 2009 the state government shut down for a short time period of time due to the lack of a budget in place when the new fiscal year began on October 1. While the shut downs only lasted a few hours, legislative leaders and the executive office had to quickly craft deals in order to develop a budget that all parties could agree to. With this year’s budget passing without fanfare or controversy, this will be the eighth consecutive year without last-minute budget deals and a rush to complete the state budget on time.

Michigan Legislative Consultants is a bipartisan lobbying firm based in Lansing, Michigan. Our team of lobbyists and procurement specialists provide a wide range of services for some of the most respected companies in America. For more on MLC, visit www.mlcmi.com or connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.