Early morning fix: Granholm signs temporary budget

A government shutdown notice on Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office door in the Romney building, taken at 9 p.m. Wednesday. (Photo by Todd A. Heywood/Michigan Messenger)

LANSING — As the budget battle in the state legislature careened toward a looming deadline, the Michigan Messenger has been on the scene at the State Capitol reporting developments as they happen in the blog column on the right side of our homepage. While a budget was not agreed upon by the midnight deadline, Gov. Jennifer Granholm did sign a continuing resolution that will keep state government from shutting down for 30 days.

Here are links to the new updates as they are posted:

THURSDAY’S UPDATES

6:11 PM: The Michigan House and Senate adjourned for the weekend and are expected to return to the State Capitol on Tuesday.

5:16 PM: Granholm on the budget: “Michigan’s future demands a budget that helps us diversify our economy to create the jobs we need; that keeps police officer and firefighters on the streets of our communities; a budget that helps our kids afford to go to college. The budget the legislature has passed failed to do all of these essential things.”

3:33 PM: While not discussing specifics, Granholm declared: “I will use my veto pen to shape this budget …”

2:31 PM: At an afternoon press availability, Granholm is expected to outline plans to use her line-item veto authority on certain parts of the budget deal.

5:27 AM: Granholm signs a continuing resolution, keeping the state government running for 30 days to allow legislators to reach agreement on a permanent budget.

12:02 AM: Senate adjourns; government officially shuts down in the morning.

12:01 AM: House rejects K-12 funding bill a second time.

DOWN-TO-THE-WIRE WEDNESDAY

11:25 PM: Senate GOP brings up a bill to raise the income tax to 4.8 percent. It fails 33-2.

8:34 PM: Lansing police say they have no plan in place if Capitol state police post shuts down tonight.

8:33 PM: The House withdraws its motion for reconsideration for the Department of Corrections budget, then the Senate approves it and places it on hold through its own motion for reconsideration.

6:59 PM: A rundown of the latest news and a projection of what the next few hours holds.

6:49 PM: The GOP put out a press release accusing Andy Dillon and Mike Prusi of leaving the capitol to go to a fundraising party. A Democratic spokesperson slammed the “blatant lies” in the press release, saying that Prusi had been at the Capitol all day.

4:04 PM: The House is pulling the plug on votes on those budget bills that they don’t have the votes to pass, then returning to caucus to urge legislators to change their vote.

4:03 PM: In a strange twist, if the budget is not signed tonight, the capitol post for the Michigan State Police will be closed and will not reopen until there is a permanent budget, leaving legislators and observers with no on-scene protection.

3:30 PM: Granholm sends out temporary layoff notices to all state employees.

3:09 PM: Senate passes Department of Community Health budget by a very narrow margin.

1:59 PM: The House unanimously passed the Department of Transportation budget after the conference committee reached a compromise to cut state funding for preliminary work on a proposed public bridge from Detroit to Canada.

12:06 PM: The House passed the Department of Community Health budget bill, including massive cuts in Medicaid payments, family planning and community wellness plans.

11:49 AM: The House passed the higher education budget bill, which includes the elimination of the Michigan Promise scholarship.

11:27 AM: The House passed a supplemental appropriations bill to restore many of the most controversial cuts in the budget bills, but did not have the votes to give the bill immediate effect, essentially killing the bill.

10:30 AM: The House has passed a continuing resolution to keep the government running if no final budget is reached today. Whether the governor will sign it is up in the air.

10:25 AM: An overview of where the negotiations stand entering the last day of negotiations.

TUESDAY’S UPDATES:

11:38 PM: The House adjourned for the night, leaving the most controversial budget bills still to be voted on tomorrow.

10:54 PM: The House passed the Department of Human Services budget by a wide margin.

9:08 PM: Gov. Jennifer Granholm had a closed-door meeting with Andy Dillon at her capitol office. No one has revealed what was discussed.

8:56 PM: The House approves the budget for the Department of Corrections, but Rep. Alma Wheeler Smith makes a motion for reconsideration and both parties immediately return to caucus.

8:34 PM: The Messenger’s Todd Heywood gets an exclusive interview with Sen. Majority Leader Mike Bishop.

6:15 PM: Senate passes two budgets, slashing revenue sharing with cities and cutting millions from human services budget.

1:58 PM: The House has adjourned until 4 pm as leadership tries to find votes to pass the more controversial budget bills.

11:40 AM: Sen. Valde Garcia says that there will be no shutdown of government, that he will not support elimination of the Michigan Promise Scholarship and that he will not vote for any increase in revenue.

10:12 AM: House Speaker Andy Dillon and Sen. Majority Leader Mike Bishop have apparently agreed to use more federal stimulus money to reduce some budget cuts without having to raise new revenue.