LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- The state Legislature's nearly year-round rumble with Michigan's budget crisis has overshadowed efforts to do much of anything else.
Most legislation concerning energy, the environment, health care and other issues not immediately related to the state budget or taxes has been stalled more than 10 months, since little time has been left to focus on such matters.
Lawmakers could begin moving faster on some non-budget issues after they return from what could be a two-week break this month. But it's unlikely any major policy changes will be addressed until December.
"The state budget should be their No. 1 priority, so setting that straight is good," says James Clift, policy director for the Michigan Environmental Council. "But it's unfortunate it's taken this long."
Several Democratic and Republican lawmakers from both chambers have been absorbed in the state budget and related financial issues, brought on in part by Michigan's struggling economy and what some consider an out-of-whack tax structure. It's been one of the toughest, longest and messiest budget debates in modern Michigan history.
The new Legislature convened in January knowing the budget would consume the early part of the session. But the budget problem grew almost weekly, ballooning to a projected $1.75 billion deficit by summer.
Michigan budget debates are typically wrapped up by July or August, well in advance of fiscal years that start in October. But as autumn slowly turns to winter, lawmakers still haven't finished the job for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
An unprecedented four-hour government shutdown highlighted the budget crisis in the early hours of Oct. 1. A 30-day emergency extension was passed to delay the start of the new budget year to Nov. 1.
But one of the budget fixes passed in the early hours of Oct. 1 -- a sales tax on some services designed to raise more than $600 million this fiscal year -- caused such an uproar that lawmakers are repealing it. They still haven't passed final legislation that would get rid of the tax and replace the money it was supposed to raise.
Shoved to the back burner are policy goals of both Republicans and Democrats.
There hasn't been much action, for instance, on plans to require a portion of the state's electrical power to be generated from renewable sources, or to protect the state's water supply. Some work has been done related to pollution rules for Michigan's large livestock and poultry farms, but the issue is far from settled.
"The budget has sucked the oxygen out of the Capitol," says Sen. Patricia Birkholz, a Republican from Saugatuck and chairwoman of the Senate's Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee. "It's taken literally all of our working hours on many days."
Birkholz is one of several committee chairs who has had to cancel or delay key meetings on policy issues because of conflicts with budget-related sessions over the past few months. Her committee is plowing through documents with hundreds of pages related to a Great Lakes region water protection compact awaiting Michigan's approval.
"With most of the budget settled, there will be more time for committees to meet now," Birkholz predicts.
Some of the energy, health care and other policy issues still awaiting action could have an effect on Michigan's struggling economy, which in turn could improve the state's budget situation. The policy choices made now could affect the state's future economic health, and that's why some lawmakers have worked to keep the non-budget policy debates alive during the fiscal crisis.
"We need to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time," says Rep. Andy Meisner, a Democrat from Ferndale and chairman of the House Commerce Committee. "A lot of these things go hand in hand."
Lawmakers need to figure out if and how Michigan should boost its energy production capacity, which could include the building of a new power plant. Efforts aimed at the alternative energy industry could provide a new jobs niche in a state desperately looking for economic growth.
Proposals related to stem cell research could help shift the focus of work in Michigan toward either adult or embryonic methods.
House Democratic proposals aimed at boosting entrepreneurship might affect the economy. So could some policy initiatives backed by House Republicans, including property tax changes aimed at helping struggling homeowners and incentives for community colleges and universities that fuel economic growth.
An example of health-related legislation that has stalled during the budget debate is a bill that would ban smoking in most Michigan work places, including bars and restaurants. The House late Thursday began voting on amendments to the bill, but it was pulled off the voting board as the budget debate heated up again.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm supports some of the energy and environmental issues already being debated in the Legislature. She also wants lawmakers to tackle education proposals such as mandatory kindergarten and raising the state's dropout age from 16 to 18.
Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd says the administration isn't interested in spending much time rehashing the prolonged budget fight. Instead, it wants lawmakers to build on the bipartisan cooperation it showed in addressing the budget crisis to concentrate on measures that could improve the state's economy.
"There is nothing more important than jobs and the economy," Boyd says. "That is what everyone should be focused on in the days ahead."