Granholm said in a press conference Thursday the additional 30 days will allow her to carefully examine all of the budget bills. The goal is to create a balanced budget that keeps police officers and fire fighters employed, creates new jobs and helps residents afford college, she said.

“The budget the Legislature has passed failed to do all of these essential things,” Granholm said. “That’s why I will continue to fight for the right budget for Michigan.”

Throughout the day Thursday, the House and the Senate were back in session working toward a budget for the governor to sign.

“Well, we are bouncing things back and forth between the House and the Senate right now,” State Rep. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, said. “We have just seen a report that the governor already doesn’t like some of it and has threatened to veto some of our work.”

Prior to passing the temporary budget bill, both the House and the Senate approved a higher education budget that cuts the Michigan Promise Scholarship and eliminates $60 million in financial aid. Cutting the scholarship saves about $140 million.

A bill introduced by the state House last week could restore $120 million to the scholarship, but there is no way to fund it at this point, said state Rep. Joan Bauer, D-Lansing. Possible sources of revenue could include a tax on pop and water bottles.

“I am still working really hard to be sure that we get the supplemental funded to be sure we can live up to that promise,” Bauer said.

State Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, who voted to cut the Promise, was unable to be reached for comment.

Experts have said reinstatement of the Promise by the Republican-led Senate is unlikely, leaving 50,000 Michigan college students hanging in the balance.

“I said I would use every tool at my power including veto to keep the Promise,” Granholm said.

Last year, MSU received about $44 million from the state to distribute in financial aid, said Val Meyers, associate director of the MSU Office of Financial Aid.

MSU Trustee Donald Nugent said not knowing where the university stands with the state budget is frustrating, because the university needs to know how it will proceed with finances.

“Just not knowing — not having a set plan to work by — is very difficult,” he said.

For some students, the main frustration revolves around the uncertainty of the Promise funding.

“It’s the Michigan Promise. They promised students they could have these scholarships; they should keep it,” elementary education senior Rachael
Kime said.