GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — For many, it was a sigh of relief as the Michigan legislature, at last, passed a full state budget for the next year early Friday morning.

Now, the budget passed by both the state's Democratic-controlled Senate and its Republican-controlled House is on its way to Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

"I'm proud of this balanced bipartisan budget that delivers on the kitchen table issues: costs, roads, safety and schools," Whitmer said in a video statement last week. "And I'm looking forward to signing them."

But after lawmakers missed more than one deadline along the way, many had argued that schools, which had to put together their own budgets without funding numbers from the state, were left to pay the price for inaction.

"We urge all state leaders to engage i

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