Mich. Lawmakers Try to Avoid Shutdown

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LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- With only hours left before the new fiscal year, legislators scrambled to reach a budget deal that would plug a $1.75 billion deficit and avert a partial government shutdown.

The Legislature needs a spending plan finished in time for the fiscal year to start on Monday or most government operations will cease, including food safety and gas pump inspections, liquor deliveries, lottery ticket sales, the issuance of driver's licenses, and road construction.

Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm has told about 35,000 of the state's more than 53,000 workers not to report to work on Monday if a shutdown occurs. The remaining workers, mostly related to public health and safety, would stay on the job.

The Democrat-led House on Sunday evening approved a temporary spending plan that would extend the current budget for 30 days while giving legislators more time to craft a long-term deal. It was tied to proposals extending the state's 6 percent sales tax to a wide range of services and to a bill raising the income tax.

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