The Michigan Legislature this week approved supplemental budget bills to resolve a $2.2 billion deficit in the current year’s budget caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. State Senator Aric Nesbitt tells WSJM News lawmakers on Wednesday agreed to cut state spending by $936 million while taking other measures to shore up important priorities.
“We’ve been able to work together on a responsible budget that helps Michigan families without raising taxes,” Nesbitt said. “We used some of the federal dollars to help fill some of the gaps, but we also made cuts in terms of our spending. There were hiring freezes, we used a portion of the state’s Budget Stabilization Fund, the Rainy Day Fund.”
The supplemental budget plan for this year divides federal CARES Act money between K-12 schools, universities and colleges, and local governments. The K-12 schools get $555 million, the colleges get $200 million, and the local governments get $350 million. Nesbitt says the next task will be to tackle the state budget for next year, which will have a similar shortfall. He says more will be known in August.
