Gov. Snyder signs $47.4 billion Michigan budget after lawmakers passed it in record time

6/21/2011

LANSING — 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.

Snyder says the getting a “difficult” budget done for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 is a “major milestone.”

Critics say it makes overly painful cuts to public schools, universities, local governments and key services.

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.