At least some of the bills are expected to start moving into the Legislature this week.

“(The bills) are all sort of teed up. We’ll probably see some voting this week,” said state Rep. Dave Hildenbrand, R-Lowell.

State Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, said some of the less controversial budget bills are drafted, but the House is waiting to vote on multiple bills at once.

Legislators have until midnight on Sept. 30 to reach an agreement on the fiscal year 2010 budget, which would take effect on Oct. 1.

In 2007, legislators failed to meet the deadline and state government was forced to shut down for hours.

Meadows said he does not predict similar last minute voting this year.

“I can’t see us waiting too long,” Meadows said.

Before that can be done, decisions and compromises must be made between the three plans, and legislators must prioritize funding in four controversial areas.

Higher education

Funding to Michigan’s colleges and universities is under debate, and much of the conflict revolves around the future of the Michigan Promise Scholarship, which provides up to $4,000 to students based on their Michigan Merit Exam scores.

House Republicans proposed maintaining the scholarship at 2009 funding levels and Granholm’s latest budget proposal does not detail the its future. However, Liz Boyd, the governor’s spokeswoman, said Granholm’s plan supports the Michigan Promise.

The Senate plan would eliminate the scholarship altogether, something Meadows said the House will fight.

“There are a number of cuts proposed by the Senate we would not support — including massive cuts to the Michigan Promise Scholarship,” Meadows said.

But the Senate cuts were part of a plan to settle the state budget with decreased state revenues, Hardiman said.

“We know we don’t have enough revenue now to fund even the reduced (February) budget proposal,” he said.

“The House has not cut the budget as much yet — they either need to put a plan on the table to increase revenue or cut the budget.”

The House Republican higher education cuts were the greatest, totaling $166.6 million, followed by the Senate with $149.3 million in cuts and Granholm’s proposed $130 million reduction.

Revenue sharing

East Lansing’s police and fire services, libraries and parks and recreation could lose funding if revenue sharing is reduced in the state’s 2010 budget plan. The programs are funded through the city’s general fund, which is partially supported through revenue sharing.

Revenue sharing distributes a portion of Michigan sales tax money between state and local governments. It is East Lansing’s second greatest source of revenue, City Manager Ted Staton said.

The city already has taken measures to reduce costs — including five furlough days for libraries and senior citizen programs — in anticipation of a 10 to 20 percent cut in revenue sharing funds, Staton said.

But the programs could be affected even further if the cuts are greater, he said.

“(The programs are) the kind of things that directly affect city of East Lansing residents,” Staton said.

The governor and the Senate both proposed revenue sharing reductions, but House Republicans did not include recommendations for the program. Granholm proposed $74.2 million in cuts and the Senate voted to reduce revenue sharing by $96.9 million.

Community health

Legislators also are debating reductions in funding to the Department of Community Health, particularly for mental health services for people who don’t receive Medicaid.

More than 9,900 Michigan residents between the ages of 18 and 24 receive the non-Medicaid services.

Health officials said the range of the proposed funding cuts makes it difficult to plan for the future.

House Republicans proposed cutting the program by $150 million, while
the Senate recommended $61.8 million in cuts and Granholm in February recommended cutting it by $7.5 million.

“We have no idea what cuts we’re facing, everything is on the table,” said James McCurtis, Michigan Department of Community Health spokesman.

Department of Education

Early education also faces potential reductions in the 2010 fiscal year.

Granholm’s February recommendations proposed a .8 percent increase in funding for the Department of Education, but her September plan would cut into the department’s funding by $1.9 million.

The Senate plan calls for an additional $19.6 million in K-12 education cuts, while the House Republicans proposed reducing funding by $900,000.

But even if lawmakers don’t settle the differences before Oct. 1, legislators still have options to avoid a government shutdown, said Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics.

Since the budget is divided into multiple bills, legislators could pass some bills and pass a continuation budget for the remaining items. A continuation budget would keep state spending at 2009 fiscal year levels until an agreement could be reached on any remaining budget areas, Ballenger said.

During the next two weeks, legislators must decide whether to balance the budget by raising taxes, cutting programs or a combination of both, and the outcome likely will include a combination of all three plans, he said.

“There’s got to be some agreement,” Ballenger said. “What that is — nobody knows right now, not even the people negotiating.”