by Gongwer News Service
September 18, 2009

For months, discussions between Governor Jennifer Granholm and the legislative leaders reflected the old song’s line: “If you don’t where you’re going, any road will get you there.” Suddenly, one has to wonder if the road on which the state’s top officials are traveling will lead to a relatively safe budget destination or a head-on collision.

In slightly more than a week, months worth of developments, and even surprises, have crowded the budgetary highway as the state draws closer to the October 1 2009-10 fiscal year start.

First came Ms. Granholm outlining her budget proposal, followed by the sharp rebuke from Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford Twp.). Then came the absolutely startling revelation that Mr. Dillon and Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) had been meeting and that the House was prepared to vote on the $1.2 billion in cuts that the Senate passed in June, with the House hoping the Senate would vote for revenue increases after October 1.

Much as folks hold their breath as they watch a motorist cruising the wrong way down a one-way street, people waited to see if the House would actually vote on those cuts. No votes yet, but then came the even more astonishing announcement that Mr. Dillon and Mr. Bishop had a signed agreement on budget targets that would encompass the $1.2 billion in cuts. Effectively, this was the moral equivalent of the guy driving the wrong way parking the car in the middle of the road and then washing it while blocking the traffic.

Republicans are ecstatic, posting all over their Facebook and Twitters that the state will have a budget that means no tax increases. Democrats other than Mr. Dillon are trying to keep their radiators from exploding with rage. Some liberal groups are headlining “sellout” on their websites. Other groups have stayed quiet so far, perhaps in shock, perhaps in disbelief, perhaps with the motorist’s prayer that if they keep turning the key the battery of a cuts/new revenue budget will spark back up.

So, does that mean the washed car will get to tootle along its merry wrong way down the one-way street and arrive at the drive of 2009-10 Fiscal Year un-side-swiped, un-fender-bendered, un-ticketed?

No, because there is yet one more person in the car. Mr. Dillon and Mr. Bishop may be wrestling over the steering wheel, but Ms. Granholm is sitting in the car, and the question has to be asked: who has the map?

Until the announcement of the Bishop-Dillon agreement, Ms. Granholm had been relatively quiet during the week (notwithstanding her trade mission to Japan). Since the agreement has come out, Ms. Granholm has been honking the horn and running the hazard lights.

She has missed no opportunity to say she sees the agreement as bad for the state, harmful to its future. She has said repeatedly she does not support the agreement, does not support the targets.

And she and her aides have questioned any belief that Republicans would come back and support revenue proposals to restore some of the cuts.

If the agreement is supposed to be seen, in part, as a way of Democrats asserting fiscal responsibility and giving the GOP a triumph that they then can come back to and magnanimously approve revenue increases for, Ms. Granholm is so far not buying it. The situation now is bit like Ms. Granholm insisting Mr. Dillon ask for directions and him saying I know where I’m going and she responding I don’t think so.

Among many observers it has become common coin that Ms. Granholm does not have the stomach or the backbone or the will to stop the agreement, that she would take too much political heat by doing so. But now having spoken repeatedly and forcefully of her opposition to the proposal, the question has to be asked: does Ms. Granholm not face even more political heat if she signs the agreement?

The road to October 1 is still filled with enough twists and turns, enough potholes, enough speed bumps and enough orange barrels to ensure the state doesn’t get a smooth commute. And when we arrive at whatever our destination happens to be, we will get a better idea of who was driving whom in this budget cycle and who will pack the car for the longer road trip the 2010-11 budget will presage.

For nearly 50 years in Michigan, Gongwer News Service has provided independent, comprehensive, accurate and timely coverage of issues in and around Michigan’s government and political systems. For subscription information, including a free trial, visit Gongwer online.