As lawmakers begin their return to the state Capitol, the daunting task of coming to a consensus on the state budget awaits - an issue that’s been closely intertwined this year with coming up with a long-term road funding solution.

The $56.8 billion budget signed by then-Gov. Rick Snyder on June 21, 2018 is set to expire Oct. 1, when the new fiscal year begins.

If a budget isn’t agreed to before then, the state government would go into shutdown, although Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signaled last week she’d consider proposing a stopgap measure to continue government funding past that date if “good-faith” negotiations about road funding were underway.

On Tuesday, Senate Republicans are expected to meet during session, but are not scheduled to take legislative action on a road funding plan or the budget, Senate majority spokesperson Amber McCann said. The Senate is currently expected to resume regular session with attendance and voting next week.

The House is not currently scheduled to resume regular session tomorrow, and doesn’t have attendance or votes scheduled.

Neither chamber has taken roll call votes since late June.

Republicans have rejected outright Whitmer’s call for a 45-cent gas tax increase for funding infrastructure in her budget plan. It remains unclear whether or under what circumstances a majority of Republican lawmakers would consider increasing taxes.

The Michigan House and Senate chambers passed their own budget proposals before breaking for the summer. In their respective transportation budgets, the House proposing a transition away from collecting sales tax on gas and using all that money for road repairs, and the Senate called for accelerating the 2015 plan passed by the legislature to fund Michigan’s roads by putting an additional $132 million into local roads.

The House and Senate budgets also diverge from the governor’s proposal on other big-ticket items like K-12 and higher education and funding for state departments.

In an interview recently aired on WJR-AM, Senate Majority Leader Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, said he anticipates a joint announcement “on a general direction” from House, Senate and the governor’s administration in the coming weeks, and said progress is being made on the budget and on creative ways to address roads.

Shirkey said in the interview he and House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, have been talking with the governor throughout the summer, adding that he’s confident Whitmer is “honestly evaluating many of the alternatives we’ve placed on the table.”