What Comes Next: Michigan’s Very Large Budget Hole

First, we must deal with the health damage of the COVID-19 virus, then comes the economic damage.  Governor Whitmer shut Michigan’s economy down and because of that, the state's treasury will lose billions of tax dollars.

A spokesman for Michigan’s Budget Office, Kurt Weiss said that the Governor’s shutdown of our economy could blow a hole in our budget somewhere between $1 and $3 billion dollars this year and another $1 to $4 billion dollars budget hole next year.

The first question I have is why next year, how long does she intend on keeping our economy closed in Michigan?

The second question I have is what projects and budgets will be cut to cover that deficit?

I hope after all of the economic damage that her Executive Order to Shelter in Place has reaped on the citizens of Michigan that she and the Legislature will not throw salt on our wounds and increase our taxes.

Kurt Weiss, spokesman for Michigan’s Budget Office said:

Every state in the nation right now is grappling with how this is going to impact the state revenues, and it’s difficult to project or predict the ultimate impact of COVID-19 on our state revenues and the subsequent impact to the state budget

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey said the with our fiscal year ending at the end of September, making any type of large cuts to the budget this late in the year would be a big task.

Our Rainy Day Fund currently has about $1.2 billion dollars in it, looks that balance will have to be brought down to $5 just to keep the account open.