With less than a month until the deadline, lawmakers are set to forge ahead on finalizing the state’s budget this week after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer agreed with legislative Republicans to let the budget proceed without a long-term road funding component.

House and Senate lawmakers are scheduled to begin combing over the details of budget plans passed in both chambers earlier this year on Thursday.

Whitmer’s joint announcement with House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, that she would work on the budgets despite not agreeing to a long-term plan indicates they’ll likely reach a deal before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1 and avert a government shutdown.

Some lawmakers expressed relief Monday that the budget was no longer tied to Whitmer’s calls for an additional $2.5 billion a year in road funding, which she said should be raised with a 45-cent fuel tax increase that proved unpopular in the legislature.

Others said the state’s infrastructure needs weren’t going to go away, and said a major road funding plan needed to remain a top priority.

State Rep. Graham Filler, R-DeWitt, said the budget negotiations between Whitmer and legislative leadership had been “clouded” by the proposed 45-cent increase that never attracted momentum in the legislature.

“If that’s what’s holding it up, but it’s never going to happen, we’re just hurdling towards shutdown in idiocy,” he said. “To say I was excited to see what they came up with - I’m beyond excited.”

A few hours after the announcement, Whitmer suggested to reporters she changed course and agreed to pass a budget without a long-term road funding plan when it became clear some lawmakers were rooting for a shutdown.

“It is abundantly clear to me that there are some people that want a shutdown. It is abundantly clear to me that there are some that don’t want to put real solutions for roads on the table and be serious about it,” Whitmer said.

Not so, said Republicans. Rep. Jason Sheppard, R-Temperance, said in a statement Whitmer’s administration were the only ones who’d brought up the prospect of a shutdown during negotiations, citing State Budget Director Chris Kolb’s message to agency directors asking them to prepare for a shutdown possibility and Whitmer’s comments to the media.

“We put solution after solution on the negotiating table and all we got from the governor’s office was more inflammatory public statements and press conferences," Sheppard said. "I’m glad the governor has decided to stop stomping her feet and start working with the Legislature. It feels great to welcome another adult into the ongoing work to assemble a state budget.”

Democratic legislative leaders said avoiding a government shutdown was important, but said it was equally important to make up for decades of underinvestment and come up with a long term plan to fix roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

“Yes, it’s critical that we get a budget done and signed on time,” Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, said in a statement. "And yes, we also need to address the condition of our infrastructure with the urgency it requires. It’s incredibly important that we all come back to the negotiating table immediately after the budget’s done, because the roads problem isn’t going away; it’s only going to get worse.”

Sen. Curtis Hertel, D-East Lansing, serves as the minority vice chair on the Senate Appropriations Committee. He said a shutdown should be avoided, but said it was time for lawmakers to get realistic on what it takes to actually solve Michigan’s infrastructure problems, and pay attention to what industry experts are saying.

“The urgency should be there because of what’s happening to Michigan people,” he said. “I don’t think there are any actual experts in the legislature on this issue - we should probably listen to the experts.”

House Democratic Leader Christine Greig, D-Farmington Hills, suggested the governor create a bipartisan task force to seek out viable options for real road funding solutions. She said most are well aware of what the problems are, but could benefit from a task force pointing out an array of solutions that could fix them.

Greig said lawmakers should be relentless in trying to reach a road funding consensus, despite the likelihood that lawmakers won’t reach a deal on the matter before the current fiscal year is over.

“It shouldn’t take any pressure off of us - we should be focused on fixing problems, not on calendars,” she said. “We were elected to solve problems, and this is a problem.”

State Sen. Ken Horn, R-Frankenmuth, said the Senate priority has been auto no-fault reform, then budget, then road funding fixes from the beginning of session. Tabling road funding talks until a budget deal is in place made sense, he said.

“There’s a sense of relief...that we can get this done,” he said. “I served through two government shutdowns -they’re ugly.”

With the governor working directly with legislative leadership, the legislature won’t have to present a budget with the threat of a veto, Horn said - making it easier to then turn to road funding.

“I just appreciated seeing everybody set aside their differences do the proper job, do their constitutional duty,” Horn said. “I think we’re going to be just fine.”