LANSING, Mich. — Michigan state workers are bracing for uncertainty as lawmakers struggle to reach agreement on the state budget ahead of a potential government shutdown on October 1st. The proposed Republican budget includes nearly $5 billion in cuts to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which officials say would eliminate approximately 1,600 jobs.
"This is very serious situation," one official said.
MDHHS employee Ray Hesser joined representatives from UAW Local 6000 and Senator Sarah Anthony at the state capitol Tuesday to discuss the potential impacts on state workers and services.
"I've seen several government shut downs, and they're not okay… People are nervous, they're anxious," Hesser said.
The budget impasse stems from Democratic and Republican lawmakers' inability to find middle ground on state spending priorities.
"This budget cuts so many essential services for men and women across mid-Michigan," Anthony said.
State employees are particularly concerned about job security and workload impacts if the cuts move forward.
"A little bit of nerves because it's the uncertainty of everything and we don't know what's going to happen with our department," one MDHHS employee said.
Anthony warned of broader consequences for both workers and the communities they serve.
"If that was to become a reality… you're talking about workers possibly quitting because of burn out because we are already short staff and you're talking about people not being able to live their day to day lives and possibly falling into poverty," Anthony said.
If a shutdown occurs, state workers will receive 14-day notices about whether they should report to work, depending on their classification as essential or non-essential employees.
"They have 14 days to give us notice on whether we should show up to work or not… It depends if we are considered essential workers or non essential workers," one worker explained.
Republican lawmakers defended their position, emphasizing broader economic concerns across the state.
"We appreciate those state workers, but understand we have millions of people across the state of Michigan concerned about their jobs as well… so it's not just state workers we need to be concerned about, we need to be concerned with the whole state," a Republican representative said.
Democratic leaders criticized the Republican approach to budget negotiations.
"I am on belief that we could do it all, but it requires serious conversations with serious people, and these republicans don't seem to be serious," Anthony said.
"This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy."
