As the struggle to resolve the state budget continues, lawmakers are racing against an eighteen day deadline to pull together a budget that will last through the next two years. This extended budget has proven to be difficult to achieve, and the $2.8 billion deficit in the general and K-12 funds has not been easy to resolve. It is up to the politicians in Lansing to finally correct the stuctural budget deficit and reverse the state's recent trend of overestimating annual revenue and spending more than it can earn.

Michigan citizens are showing signs of support for a two year budget, hoping that this will stablilize the critical budget situation. Some say that budgetting through 2011 would make funding for programs such as K-12 education more reliable. Daniel Behm, the superintendent from Forest Hills School District has said, "' If they budgeted through 2011, it would enable us not to have such volatility in our programming and services for students and families.'" This stability would arrise chiefly from school districts ability to plan for the coming years and make adjustments in spending accordingly.

Moreover with the coming election year, some fear that little will be accomplished and that Michigan's budget will continue its downward spiral. An extended budget would be a way of ensuring progress throughout the election year. Jared Rodriguez, the chamber's vice president of governmental affairs, says that "'[i]f they started to look further out, rather than budgeting for one year, it would force them to stop the Band-Aid approach and prioritize spending'".

With the budget deadline looming, compromise between Lansing's partisan politicians seems nearly impossible. However, many are calling for Grandholm and lawmakers to step up, saying "'we need real leadership out of Lansing'". It is time for lawmakers to come together and make the daunting budget adjustments necessary to began the rebuild of Michigans failing infrastructure.