LANSING, Mich. — Michigan will confront multibillion-dollar declines in tax revenue combined with record-high enrollment in government health insurance programs.
It's a double whammy from the coronavirus pandemic that may lead to major service cuts.
Legislative experts and top officials in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration agreed to revised budget estimates Friday.
The steep downward revision from revenue estimates issued just four months ago — nearly $6.3 billion this combined fiscal year and next — is unprecedented. In numbers released Thursday, economists project Michigan’s tax revenues this fiscal year will plummet between $3.1 billion and $3.6 billion below prior estimates due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Whitmer administration is calling on Congress to send aid to the state, noting it happened during the Great Recession.
One-third of the workforce has filed for unemployment benefits at a time schools and businesses are closed and travel is restricted to curb the spread of COVID-19. According to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Labor, Michigan has the second-highest unemployment rate in country behind California.
13 ON YOUR SIDE contributed to this reporting.
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