Michigan House Republicans attempted to end allegations that they’re focused on a government shutdown with a two-bill “prevention plan” approved Thursday.

The Republican majority in the lower chamber quickly approved the $20 billion contingency funding to ensure any stalemate on the divided legislature’s annual budget does not impact essential services taxpayers rely on.

“This is the beginning of the process,” said Rep. Ann Bollin, chair of the House Appropriations Committee. “This is absolutely what we have to provide. We don’t want our kids starving. We want to make sure they’re safe in school, educated and they have the resources. That’s what’s in this … prevention plan.”

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The legislation includes $20 billion in funding for schools, local law enforcement, prisons, courts, veterans’ homes, and local governments. It includes record per-pupil funding, increasing to $10,025 per student, while maintaining full funding for special education, school safety and mental health, and the state’s retirement obligations.

“This Shutdown Prevention Plan ensures that, should budget negotiations between the legislature and the administration falter, there is a plan on the table that guarantees schools and other essential services are not punished,” state Rep. Parker Fairbairn, R-Harbor Springs, said in a statement.

“Our caucus intends to responsibly reduce overall spending in the coming fiscal year, and we want to avoid having funding for essential services used as pressure points to continue over-funding less vital services,” he said. “Our legislative action earlier this week takes that scenario off the table.”

Republicans’ focus on reducing spending and government waste follows a Democratic government trifecta that has approved record budgets in recent years. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is proposing to spend a whopping $86 billion for the next fiscal year, representing a 43% increase since she took office.

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That spending plan calls for new taxes, including a hike in the state’s corporate income tax to one of the highest rates in the nation, $470 million in new taxes on wholesale marijuana, a tax on vapes and other nicotine products, tax increases on heavy trucks, increased landfill fees, and other expenses for taxpayers.

Since November, Michigan Democrats have promoted the narrative that a new House Republican majority is plotting a government shutdown. House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Twp., said House bills 4161 and 4162 are designed to put that narrative to bed.

“Let’s just stop the games,” he said in comments cited by Michigan Advance. “Democrats stop using schools and prisons and veterans’ homes and local governments and police as pawns in your political game to threaten the government shutdown in order to bond your very unpopular radical left programs.”

The legislation ultimately cleared the lower chamber on a vote of 59-49, with Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, voting with Republicans and two members not voting. Also included was $49 million needed to “close the books” on the 2024 fiscal year.

The bills now head to the Senate, though they have done little to quell the claims about a government shutdown.

“We haven’t seen a government shutdown in a long time, and there’s no good reason why he should be predicting one now unless he wants it to happen,” Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, told The Detroit News. “Not only is this an empty budget, it’s also straight out of the Trump playbook — create a problem and then try to paint yourself as a hero for fixing the crisis of your own making.”

Some Democrats even attacked the prevention plan with profanity.

“This is bad politics. This is bad policy. This is going to hurt our kids,” state Rep. Regina Weiss, D-Oak Park, claimed. “And if this is some kind of negotiating, art-of-the-deal kind of tactic, it is dangerous and we don’t need this shit in Michigan.”

The last government shutdown in Michigan was on Oct. 1, 2007, though it was quickly resolved by a short-term funding bill crafted by a Democratic House and Republican Senate, according to The News.

Whitmer’s office declined to discuss the state’s budget situation when contacted by multiple news outlets on Thursday.

Michigan lawmakers are tasked with approving a state budget by July 1, but face no penalty if that doesn’t happen. A government shutdown would occur at the start of the next fiscal year on Oct. 1 if spending bills are not approved.