Page 4 - Chris Hackbarth News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Municipal leaders from Battle Creek to Lansing are welcoming a budget plan from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer that would allocate $70 million to bail out 24 cities hit hard by decreasing income taxes from the pandemic. In Michigan, 24 cities rely on income taxes to comprise 25 to 33 percent of their annual revenue.  Some had to lay off workers last year because state law doesn’t allow municipalities to collect local income taxes on unemployment or from employees who worked outside of their jurisdiction.  During the pandemic — which drove up unemployment rates to an annual average of 10...

State emergency management officials told a mid-Michigan community this month that the state will change the way it processes emergency aid requests after the community was denied financial aid to pay for its response to a massive ice jam that caused flooding in 2019.  State agencies are mum on the changes, with Attorney General Dana Nessel's office and the Michigan State Police declining to comment on the situation.  The changes will clarify the process for getting emergency aid in a way that more closely aligns with the process outlined in Michigan’s Emergency Management Act, said Chr...

Now, after months of negotiations, congressional leaders are nearing agreement on a second stimulus, as leaders fear the economy, which was bolstered by the CARES Act, is worsening. Michigan’s unemployment rate in November climbed to 6.9 percent from 6.1 percent, the first increase since April, according to figures released Wednesday. Nationally, job growth slowed in November, due in part to coronavirus restrictions on businesses, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The latest stimulus is a work in progress. Here’s a look at how it may impact Michigan. Cities struggling to survive ...