LANSING, Mich. — State Sen. Dan Lauwers on Tuesday joined his Republican colleagues in calling on the Senate’s Democratic leadership to stop neglecting the responsibility lawmakers have to pass a balanced budget.
“Leadership only scheduled one day of voting this week, and it turned out not to be for passing a budget. This shameful disregard for one of the Legislature’s most important duties cannot go unnoticed — people are, and should be, angry about it,” said Lauwers, R-Brockway Township. “We need to get serious and pass a responsible budget that tackles road funding and ensures local governments and schools have the funding they rely on for the upcoming fiscal year.”
The current fiscal year ends Sept. 30, with the new budget beginning on Oct. 1.
Lauwers blasted Democratic senators for failing to work with the House to pass a comprehensive spending plan prior to the Legislature’s summer recess and for neglecting the incomplete budget all summer.
“Today was meant to be an emergency session to pass the budget, but all we did was pass bills that face no urgency and can be taken up anytime. This could, and should, have been done once our constitutional requirement of getting our books in order has been met,” Lauwers said. “We were in session for only 75 minutes today and not one vote was taken on budget-related items.
“The clock is ticking.”
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