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CAUCUSES CLOSE TO FINAL BUDGET PROPOSALS ON NEGOTIATIONS The two majority caucuses of the Legislature are getting closer to finalizing their proposals for trimming the state's current 2008-09 budget, and while details were not released, officials indicated the proposals would call for actual budget cuts in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Trying to cut the entire anticipated $785 million shortfall in the current budget would prove too devastating, meaning thousands of state workers (one official said as many as 20,000) would be laid off, crippling state services, one official said. But even using federal stimulus money, the caucuses are leaning towards calling for major cuts, in part to help smooth out budget issues in the upcoming years when federal stimulus money will no longer be available. Some of the proposed cuts were to have been discussed at meetings Thursday among legislative and executive officials. Sources among House Democrats said that caucus hoped to reach agreement on a level of cuts to call for by Friday. Sources indicated that Speaker Andy Dillon <http://www.gongwer.com/index.cfm?link=bio.cfm&nameid=105001&locid=1> (D-Redford Twp.) was trying to win concurrence with his caucus on cuts totaling some $270 million, which would be about 34 percent of the estimated total shortfall of $785 million. Senate Republicans reached agreement on the proposal they brought to the negotiations with the House and Ms. Granholm. The proposal was finalized in a two-hour caucus meeting held before the Senate's Thursday session. A Senate Republican source would not put a number to the level of cuts the GOP was proposing, but said it would be less than 50 percent of the anticipated shortfall. Cuts totaling 50 percent of the expected shortfall would total $392.5 million. The cuts will "still be painful enough," the source said, and probably require significant layoffs. Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop <http://www.gongwer.com/index.cfm?link=bio.cfm&nameid=17501&locid=1> (R-Rochester) and Senate Appropriations Committee chair Sen. Ron Jelinek <http://www.gongwer.com/index.cfm?link=bio.cfm&nameid=21201&locid=1> (R-Three Oaks) issued a statement about the Senate GOP proposal. While not including specifics in terms of numbers, the statement did say that Senate Republicans were determined that the fix not include tax increases, enact "real cuts that address our structural deficit," "enact reforms that will save taxpayer money over the long term," and use stimulus funds to actually stimulate the economy and "not grow government." The statement also said the recommended cuts will be accompanied by a series of government reforms designed "to correct the problems that have consistently resulting in eight years of budget deficits." But the statement did not list what any of those reforms would be. The statement also said that the cuts proposed would be real "and they will be painful."