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Developing Michigan's budget takes over a year. Work on the budget for Fiscal Year 1999 began in mid-1997, thought it did not take effect until October 1, 1998. Every departmental budget goes through the following steps, in the order listed, though the timelines given are only approximate. Some steps occur as a matter of custom rather than legal requirement. For example, every budget bill goes to a conference committee, thought this is not legally required. |
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1. The Governor, through the
Department of Management of Budget (DMB), issues budget
targets and policy instructions for each department based on
expected revenues, caseloads, and desired policy
directions. 2. Each department prepares
workplans and expenditure requests based on the DMB's budget
targets and instructions. 3. After receiving
department workplans, DMB works with the Governor to prepare
the Executive Budget. 4. The Governor presents the
Executive Budget to the legislature in midwinter in the form
of legislative budget bills; half go to the House and half
go to the Senate. 5. House and Senate
Appropriations subcommittees hold public hearings on the
budget area under their jurisdictions, and report substitute
budget bills to the full Appropriations Committee. 6. Appropriations committees
report the bills out to the House and Senate. 7.
After debate and additional amendments, the House and Senate
pass the bills under their jurisdictions, and send them to
the other legislative chamber.| 8. Each bill undergoes
the same process in the other legislative chamber: hearings and
amendments at the
subcommittee and full Appropriations Committee levels,
debate and amendment by the full House or Senate, and final
passage. Then, the bill is returned to the legislative
chamber in which it originated. 9. The House and Senate
always disagree on every budget bill and send each bill to
its own conference committee, which is composed of members
from each chamber. Conference committee members negotiate
their differences and report out a compromise budget bill to
both the House and Senate. 10. Each chamber adopts
conference committee bills, which are then sent to the
Governor. 11. The Governor approves
each budget by signing it, usually with a few line-item
vetoes. 12. Each budget act takes effect on October 1. 13. The budget process can continue beyond this: if revenue projections fall short, the governor can issue an executive order to reduce spending or transfer moneys from one part of the budget to another. If program costs exceed projected costs and sufficient state revenues exist, the legislature can pass and the Governor can sign one or more supplemental budget bills to meet the higher costs. |
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