Gov. Snyder Signs $47.4B Michigan Budget

LANSING (WWJ/AP) - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has signed into law the $47.4 billion budget lawmakers sent him last month. The Republican governor signed the bills Tuesday surrounded by appropriations committee members.

The Republican-led Legislature acted with a swiftness not seen in Lansing in decades in passing the budget after Snyder pushed them to get the job done by May 31.

WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick spoke with Snyder who said that getting a "difficult" budget done for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 is a "major milestone."

"He says we have bottomed out in this state. We are coming back. There is no structural deficit in this budget, he says that is dead. And he applauded the Republican lawmakers who stood with him on the podium," said Skubick.

"There were no Democrats there at all, but he did give a small shout out to them for having cooperated in the budget process," Skubick said.

Skubick said not everyone is happy with the budget.

"The education lobby, higher education, all took cuts. In total, $1.5 billion in cuts. But the Governor says those days, he hopes, are over," Skubick said.

Early completion of the budget gives school districts and local governments whose budget years start July 1 some certainty about state assistance, even though many school and local officials don't like what's in the plan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.