After months of negotiations, twists, stalemates and unprecedented moves, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer finalized the state budget this week just in time to avoid the first government shutdown in a decade.
The first-term Democratic governor line-item vetoed nearly $1 billion of the $59.9 billion budget and shifted $625 million within state departments in a dramatic restructuring to better reflect her priorities. The Republican-led Legislature passed the budgets to Whitmer without her input afte