“I know the state is going to go through a lot of difficulties. But when it comes to higher education, I believe that the levels maintained a year ago will be levels maintained this year,” said state Rep. Vincent Gregory, D-Southfield, a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education.

Granholm could use a portion of the up to $2 billion in federal stimulus money going to Michigan to help make up the deficit, but she has not yet made this decision, Granholm’s spokeswoman Liz Boyd said.

“You could use all of the discretionary recovery money, and you would still have to make budget cuts,” Boyd said.

Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of Inside Michigan Politics, said using the stimulus money would only be a one-time fix.

“If they do it, it’s just going to put off hard decisions to downsize,” Ballenger said. “We’re going to end up having to make a terrible decision in a couple of years.”

If Granholm decides to tap into the stimulus money, it could raise questions about her proposed tuition freeze, Ballenger said. It might be difficult to reward stimulus money to universities that agree to freeze tuition while also using stimulus money to fix the deficit, he said.

“If she uses stimulus money, it’s going to be a balancing act, and we’re going to have to wait and see if they can make it happen,” Ballenger said.

Gregory said he expects Granholm’s offer to give a cut of stimulus funds to universities that freeze tuition will remain, although he said there might have to be discussions about limiting the number of universities that would be on the receiving end of funding.

Bob Emerson, director of the state budget, will meet with lawmakers Thursday to discuss how the state will address the growing deficit, Boyd said. Until then, she said Granholm’s budget recommendations for 2010 remain.

“Certainly, we are not looking to walk away from any of those recommendations, given that the revenues are coming in under projection,” she said.

The proposed budget includes a 3 percent cut to higher education, despite a requirement that states maintain 2009 levels of funding to higher education in order to receive federal stimulus money.

Boyd said Granholm does not recognize this requirement as a must to receive stimulus funds. Officials are in discussion with the Senate Fiscal Agencies and legislators to determine the appropriate requirements, Boyd said.