No talk or money for fixing roads, or Pure Michigan campaign in tentative budget deal

Kathleen Gray | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption State Sen. Shirkey to Gov. Whitmer: 'The budget is done' Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey signaled he is in no hurry to start work on a supplemental spending plan for 2020, as requested by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

LANSING — While plans to fix the damn roads were both a linchpin and the downfall of budget talks earlier this year, that money was nowhere to be found in the tentative deal approved by legislators Wednesday evening.

Another noticeable absence was $37 million for the popular Pure Michigan campaign, a gauzy series of commercials featuring picturesque Michigan vistas with wistful voice-overs by actor Tim Allen, a Michigan native. The campaign has been airing commercials across the nation since 2008, but was vetoed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

A detailed proposal to fix Michigan's crumbling roads and bridges is unlikely to get done by the end of the year, even though budget negotiations are continuing.

Roads "is not a topic that's come up lately. And I guess I would say let's wait till January to worry about that," said Amber McCann, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake.

Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, agreed, saying that the supplemental bills approved Wednesday were meant to address some urgent needs after Whitmer vetoed a total of 147 line items worth $947 million from the budget sent to her by the Legislature in late September.

The discussion over roads started during Whitmer's run for governor when "Fix the Damn Roads" became her dominant campaign theme. It continued when she asked for a 45-cent-per-gallon gas tax in her first budget to make those improvements. Republicans refused to entertain the idea of the gas tax, which led to a stalemate in budget negotiations throughout the summer. Republicans in the Legislature instead ultimately added $375 million in road funding in their version of the budget, leading to another Whitmer veto.

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"The initial idea was to have a very narrow supplemental and build trust in November and then have a more robust supplemental in December," Ananich said. "And I think that will now happen in January. But we’ll keep talking between now and then."

The trust appears to be coming back between the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate and Whitmer and Democrats in the Legislature.

One sign came from Whitmer, who sent Shirkey a yellow layer cake for his 65th birthday Wednesday. Emblazoned in the black frosting was "Happy 65th BAT Day," a reference to comments Shirkey recently made to Hillsdale College students, calling Whitmer and the Democrats "Bat Sh*! Crazy."

Happy birthday @SenMikeShirkey! Hope your day isn’t too ‘crazy’ 🦇 https://t.co/m3OER5coKj — Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) December 5, 2019

Shirkey tweeted a photo of the cake, thanking "my friend Gov. Whitmer" and she replied, "Hope your day isn't too crazy" along with a bat emoji.

The cake was a humorous peace offering after a contentious couple of months following Whitmer's vetoes. One of the vetoes was the $375 million in general fund spending targeted at road and bridge repairs.

Whitmer, whose 45-cent gas tax had been widely panned, said at the time of the veto that the use of general fund money for roads hurt other priorities and was no substitute for a comprehensive road funding plan.

The Legislature on Wednesday restored 27 of Whitmer's vetoes and reversed State Administrative Board fund transfers in six of the 13 state departments affected by Whitmer's budget shifts. In exchange, she got some of her priorities restored also.

The supplemental bills total $459.3 million, including $256.7 million in general fund dollars. There are still several hundred million dollars in unallocated funds that the Legislature will deal with when it returns to session next year.

But the Pure Michigan campaign does not appear to be on the table for further talks. In her initial budget, Whitmer proposed cutting $5 million in state funding from the ad campaign to $30 million. The Legislature increased the funding by $2 million to $37 million, which Whitmer promptly vetoed.

The Pure Michigan ads have been popular with the public since they first aired in 2008. But the ads also have drawn criticism from some conservatives, who said the investment wasn't worth the return.

In the end, Pure Michigan fell victim to the budget knife and is unlikely to be resurrected.

"A lot of the focus in the supplemental deal were immediate needs," said Gideon D'Assandro, spokesman for Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield, R-Levering. "So things that are critical services or at risk of being shuttered, like schools or hospitals that had already missed payments, those took precedence."

The Legislature is expected to wrap up the budget talks next week before leaving for a holiday break. It also is expected to finish work on a bill that will make changes in how the State Administrative Board can operate, although details of the negotiated plan weren't released Thursday. The board, at the direction of the governor, has been able to make transfers of state dollars within departments. Whitmer's liberal use of the transfers infuriated Republicans and stalled efforts to reach a final bargain on the budget.

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