"Thank God for the support from the federal government..." House Speaker Andy Dillon

Lawmakers passed a "balanced" budget just before a looming October 1st shutdown. But just how courageous was the legislature? Did they really squeeze the budget? Consider, it was balanced with over $1 billion in federal one-time money. So really, the budget is still $1 billion out of balance.

Of note is the fact that $316 million of that federal money was earmarked for public education. Ironically, US Senator Tom Coburn just released a report showing over $2.3 billion of pork in federal education funding.

When is the legislature going to grow a spine and do what needs to be done? The next governor, likely businessman Rick Snyder, will have his work cut out for him as he inherits a looming budget that is at least $1 billion out of whack.