Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Legislature’s Republican leaders have reached a deal to address a shortfall in the current budget caused by COVID-19 and its impact on the state’s economy. We have more from Rick Pluta.
The deal bridges most of a $2.2 billion shortfall with only three months left in the current fiscal year. The deal calls for a freeze on new hiring and staff promotions. And the state will pull $350 million from its Budget Stabilization Fund. This would be the first time in six years the state’s raided the fund informally dubbed the “rainy day” savings account.
Also, there would be cuts to K-12 school, community colleges, and public universities. Much of those cuts would be backfilled by federal money that comes from the CARES Act– with the hope for more federal aid in the future.
The next step would be for the Legislature to adopt and send a new budget to Governor Whitmerand then go to work on addressing the revenue loss in next year’s budget.
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— Rick Pluta is the Managing Editor and Reporter for the Michigan Public Radio network. Contact WEMU News at734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org