Republicans hit a significant stumbling block in their push to enact some of the strictest voting laws in the nation. But they could yet pass the measures through a special session of the Legislature.
Gov. Whitmer proposed using a budget surplus to finally eliminate a funding gap among K-12 districts, 27 years after Michigan overhauled the financing of public education.
Businesses could be spared billions of dollars of higher taxes in coming years potentially freeing up money to spend on employees or invest in their operations as a result of federal coronavirus aid flowing to the states. Governors and lawmakers in more than half the states are planning to use at least part of their federal pandemic relief money to bail out unemployment insurance trust funds that were drained by a surge in jobless claims caused by business closures and restrictions, according to an Associated Press review. By tapping into the federal aid, states could avoid automatic tax hikes that otherwise would be imposed on businesses to repay federal loans that have kept state unemployment systems afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. That means state jobless funds could recover much faster than they did after the Great Recession, when it took some states five to 10 years to replenish their funds. “For the first time in decades, states will be able to come out of an economic
Michigan Governor s Office
“With the resources we have available to us thanks to federal aid and a state surplus, we can making lasting, transformative investments in our kids and schools that will have positive impacts for generations,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Thursday in a statement.
LANSING Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday proposed using a budget surplus to finally eliminate a funding gap among K-12 districts, 27 years after Michigan overhauled the financing of public education.
Under the Democratic governor s revised proposal, districts and charter schools would receive $8,692 in base per-student aid from the state. That is $581, or 7 percent, more for about 84 percent of traditional districts and charter schools. Districts at the higher end would get an additional $163, or a nearly 2 percent increase.
States tap federal aid to shore up empty unemployment funds
This article is provided courtesy of the Associated Press.
Governor Mark Gordon (courtesy of Wyoming PBS and YouTube)
Businesses could be spared billions of dollars of higher taxes in coming years potentially freeing up money to spend on employees or invest in their operations as a result of federal coronavirus aid flowing to the states.
Governors and lawmakers in more than half the states are planning to use at least part of their federal pandemic relief money to bail out unemployment insurance trust funds that were drained by a surge in jobless claims caused by business closures and restrictions, according to an Associated Press review.