Gov. Gretchen Whitmer warned Tuesday that Michigan faces more instability if lawmakers cannot pass a budget by the Sept. 30 deadline. Speaking at the Capitol with Senate Democrats at her side, Whitmer tied the standoff to broader economic stress already hitting the state’s workforce and industries.
“Failing to get this done means more uncertainty, higher costs and less jobs,” Whitmer said in a 20-minute address. Her remarks came with just under two weeks to avoid the state’s first government shutdown since 2009.
Whitmer’s speech highlighted three priorities: road funding, education, and public safety. She also renewed calls for new economic development incentives to replace a business-attraction fund that will stop receiving automatic deposits in the new fiscal year. “No tool is perfect, but we have to do something to deliver more wins for Michigan because the competition is fierce,” she said.
The governor connected the urgency to national headwinds: higher unemployment, slower wage growth, rising debt, and the loss of more than 42,000 manufacturing jobs since April. For the first time in over four years, job seekers outnumber open positions. With tariffs raising steel and aluminum costs, Whitmer said Michigan’s auto-driven economy is especially exposed. “This is a man-made storm of uncertainty that hits Michigan hard,” she said.
At the center of the dispute is how to pay for roads. The House, controlled by Republicans, passed its budget three weeks ago — months after the Senate acted and well beyond the July 1 statutory deadline. That plan puts $3.4 billion toward road repairs without raising taxes, instead cutting or shifting funds from other areas. Thousands of state jobs would be eliminated, which House Republicans say are mostly vacant.
House Speaker Matt Hall defended the approach, arguing Democrats have refused to confront waste. “We proved you can fix the roads with just the waste, fraud and abuse in government if you make it a real priority, but Democrats can’t even put a roads plan on the table,” Hall said. He added that with Whitmer back from her international trade trip, he believes the two can strike a deal.
Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks pushed back, saying her chamber had already acted responsibly. “We can work out the differences between us if there’s a willing partner there,” she told reporters. “At this point, there is not in the House. But it’s clear today that the Senate and the governor are interested in getting there and that there is a path.”
Whitmer has proposed new revenue streams, including taxes on corporations, marijuana, and digital advertising, along with targeted cuts, to avoid what she calls a “road funding cliff” once a 2020 borrowing program expires. “My budget team will continue to participate in all the conversations. But putting up the votes and actually passing the budget is the Legislature’s responsibility,” she said. “If we do this right, we can all win. We can govern, and governing means compromise.”
Agency leaders have begun detailing the consequences of a shutdown. The Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy said more than 150 employees could be laid off, delaying environmental permits and halting drinking water protection and cleanup projects. Michigan State Police Director Col. James F. Grady II said the agency would lack funds to run trooper recruit schools, cut overtime, and restrict operations, with layoffs possible for new officers. The Department of Health and Human Services warned of reductions in child protective services staff, public assistance workers, and disease experts.
The impact would ripple quickly: fewer protections for children, slower response on water safety, weakened public safety, and reduced public health capacity. Businesses and residents would be left to absorb the disruption.
The moment recalls Michigan’s 2009 shutdown, which left state workers furloughed and delayed services for families. The stakes now are compounded by national trade policies and economic strain. Whitmer’s framing is that Lansing must project stability at a time when global forces are already unsettling supply chains and markets.
Whether that message moves the House remains unclear. Republicans insist Michigan can fund roads without raising taxes, while Whitmer and Senate Democrats argue those cuts would come at the expense of schools, healthcare, and core services. With the deadline closing in, both sides face the reality that failure will carry immediate and visible costs for families, workers, and the state economy.
For residents, the debate is not an abstract policy fight but a question of whether schools open with support staff, whether health programs are fully staffed, and whether state troopers are trained and deployed. For Michigan’s broader economy, it is whether the state shows stability or slides into another shutdown at a time when its industries can least afford it.
