LANSING — Gov. Jennifer Granholm and 148 lawmakers ended nine months of haggling over the state’s budget crisis by essentially agreeing to preserve the status quo.
They settled early Wednesday on a $9.8-billion general fund budget, up $760 million from the previous budget year. After agreeing Oct. 1 to raise $1.3 billion in new taxes, the Legislature trimmed $435 million from the budget Granholm proposed in February.
The final outcome was a matrix of snipping here, adding there and avoiding wholesale cuts that would furlough state workers, leave thousands without government-paid health care or cut money to schools.
One Comment
Taxes should be cut to encourage more investment and for business development and expansion. A truly progressive idea would be incentives to create and maintain more jobs, especially those at good wages.
Also, many items being funded by our tax dollars should rightfully be funded by those participating in the activities and voluntary contributions.