In one month, Michigan’s next fiscal year will begin, and lawmakers and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appear no closer to agreement on a budget deal.

If they can’t come to consensus in 30 days, the government could go into shutdown for the first time in a decade.

Although both Republican and Democratic leaders say they’re working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen, state agency directors are currently preparing contingency plans in case it does.

In a letter sent to state department directors last month, State Budget Director Chris Kolb requested reports on what functions would be essential and what could be “temporarily discontinued” if a shutdown is happening.

Essentially, the government needs approval from the legislature and governor to spend money - if they don’t have it, the government will shrink to only essential work needed to protect public health and safety.

“It will be the bare minimum that’s needed to protect public health,” Kolb recently told reporters.

Kolb said state officials are still working on a lot of questions related to a possible shutdown - how many employees would be temporarily laid off, when to notify them, how vendors would be paid - but remain committed to being open about the process.

“You can’t wait till the last hour to say, 'OK, we’re going to shut down,” Kolb said. “We are just preparing right now to make sure that we can do this in a very rational and timely way.”

The biggest roadblock to reaching a deal is, well, the roads themselves.

Whitmer’s budget plan called for a 45-cent gas tax increase to come up with $2.5 billion a year for fixing crumbling roads, bridges and other infrastructure, an idea that’s been a nonstarter with Republicans.

Last week, Whitmer said Republicans needed to “stop screwing around” and come up with a viable alternative to her plan during a Wednesday press conference if they didn’t like hers.

Whitmer said during a Wednesday press conference she’s not wedded to every aspect of her own plan, but noted she’s not going to negotiate with herself. Asked about whether she’d settle for less than $2.5 billion a year for roads, she said, “$2.5 billion is what it costs.”

Republican leaders in the legislature were adamant this week that there wouldn’t be a shutdown under their watch.

They say they’ve given the governor several alternatives during closed-door meetings, and suggested she’s holding the budget process hostage by insisting on a hefty tax hike.

A shutdown, said House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, is not an option.

“The governor seems to be the only person eager to talk about a government shutdown,” Chatfield said.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, said Whitmer is creating a “fabricated crisis” about the budget negotiations, and said his caucus would pivot to working on the budget and road funding issues as separate topics.

“We’re going to make sure that there’s no reason for the state of Michigan to entertain any kind of shutdown,” he said. “In parallel to that, we will continue to work with my governor and talk about, I guess, further ideas on roads, but it has to go both ways.”

Whitmer has said she’s desperate to avoid a shutdown, and previously suggested she’s open to the idea of a continuation budget - that is, authorize state government to keep running under the current $56.8 billion budget signed by then-Gov. Rick Snyder on June 21, 2018 for a little while longer - if “good faith” negotiations are continuing on road funding.

Asked for an update on that possibility Wednesday, Whitmer said it’d be “irresponsible” for her to say now whether she’d sign a continuation budget right now with so many pieces still hanging in the air.

“If we’ve got real negotiations that are progressing and I think it’s in good faith and we’re really getting to a place where we’ve got the kind of investment we need to fix the infrastructure crisis we have, that would be a factor,” she said.

Michigan’s last government shutdowns were in 2007 and 2009, and only lasted a few hours apiece into the early hours of the morning.

Similar to the current situation, there was a divided government, with then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm at the helm and Republican Mike Bishop leading the Senate.

But a major difference between then and now is the economy - the state government didn’t have much money to work with, and leaders disagreed on how to deal with the deficit.