LANSING – After coming under fire for language that critics feared would slow or stop work on the Gordie Howe International Bridge, the Legislature softened the harsh language in the transportation budget Thursday.

The House Appropriations Committee approved a version of the budget Wednesday that would have prohibited the state from spending any money on the bridge, a span across the Detroit River connecting Detroit and Windsor, even though Canada is reimbursing the state for its costs.

The Legislature backpedaled on Thursday, revising the language on the bridge, which is expected to be completed by 2024. The Michigan Department of Transportation, under the revised language, would have to confer with the Legislature on money it was spending to help with the project, such as the $230 million already spent and reimbursed by Canada, to buy property and complete engineering work on the Michigan side of the bridge.

MDOT also would have to provide the Legislature with proof of reimbursement from Canada. The language was not included in the versions of the budget proposed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer or the Senate. The final product will come after negotiations between the House, Senate and Whitmer.

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The transportation budget passed the House on a party-line 57-52 vote, with all Republicans supporting the plan and Democrats opposing it.

The action by the Legislature continues the controversy over the bridge, which the owners of the nearby Ambassador Bridge — the family of Manuel "Matty" Moroun — have fought at every turn. Republicans, who have been recipients of hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the Morouns over the years, have fought the second, and competing, span over the Detroit River.

But Gov. Rick Snyder did an end run around the Legislature in 2012 and negotiated a deal directly with Canada that would allow Canada to collect all the tolls from the bridge in exchange for paying for the estimated $5.7 billion cost of constructing the span.

Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, characterized the budget proposals passed by the House on Thursday, including the transportation plan, as a first step toward reconciling vastly different versions of the budget proposed by Whitmer in February and passed by the Senate last month.

While Whitmer has said she'd like the budget to be done by the end of July, the final deadline is Oct. 1, when the fiscal year begins.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.