Michigan state budget

Michigan's legislature completed work on the FY2013 state budget on June 5, 2012, four months before the start of the fiscal year. Lawmakers approved a roughly $49 billion state budget, including $14.6 billion bill to fund public schools, community colleges and universities and a $33.5-billion general fund budget, which covers 13 state agencies.^[1] Gov. Rick Snyder signed the budget bills into law on June 26, 2012.^[2]

The state's fiscal year begins on October 1st and ends on September 30th of the following calendar year.^[3] The state operates on an annual budget cycle.^[4]

Michigan has a total state debt of approximately $124,496,677,000, when calculated by adding the total of outstanding official debt, pension and other post-employment benefits (OPEB) liabilities, Unemployment Trust Fund loans, and the FY2013 budget gap.^[5] The total state debt is down from the FY2012 total of $125,329,485,000.^[6]

Michigan's total state debt per capita is $12,605.74.^[7]

See also: The Michigan State Budget on State Budget Solutions

Economic Freedom

A new Fraser Institute report on economic freedom ranks Michigan 38th in economic Freedom. Delaware ranks 1st and New Mexico ranks 50th. The study examines the impact of economic freedom on both the level of economic activity and the growth of economic activity. According to the study, the freest economies operate with minimal government interference, relying upon personal choice and markets to answer basic economic questions. More governmental restrictions on those choices curbs economic freedom. The study looks at three major categories per state – size of government, taxes and regulations. ^[8]

Federal Aid to State Budget

The chart below represents how much of the state’s budget comes from the federal government. The number is the corresponding ranking in relation to the rest of the nation (if #1, the state receives the highest percentage of federal funding in the nation):

Figures are calculated by dividing each state’s intergovernmental revenue into its general revenue. Data is available at in U.S. Census.

FY2014 State Budget

Gov. Rick Snyder presented his proposed FY2014 state budget on Feb. 7, 2013. The $51 billion all-funds budget includes a $9.3 billion general fund.^[9] A summary of the governor's budget plan released by his office can be found here.

Under the budget, the state's fuel tax would increase from 19 cents per gallon for unleaded fuel and 15 cents per gallon for diesel fuel to 33 cents per gallon.^[10] The proposed budget also calls for increasing certain vehicle registration fees to raise $1.2 billion for the program to fix the state's roads and bridges that are in disrepair.^[9]

The governor agreed to expand the state's Medicaid program under Obamacare to include about 470,000 more uninsured low-income people, and state officials said they expected $20 billion in federal funds to pay for the expansion.^[9]

Other spending increases included in Snyder's proposed budget:

• $8.6 million to create a new agency within the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs;^[10]
• 2% funding increases for K-12 schools, community colleges, and universities,^[10] including $30.7 million more for public universities and community colleges^[9] and bringing the total state funding for K-12 education to $11.5 billion;
• $130 million over two years for early childhood education;^[10]
• $15.2 million for training of 107 troopers for the Michigan State Police;^[10]
• $75 million deposit in the state’s Rainy Day Fund, bringing the total to $580 million.^[10]

FY2013 State Budget

Michigan's legislature finished work on the FY2013 state budget on June 5, 2012, four months before several months ahead of the constitutional deadline of October 2012, and the governor signed the bills into law on June 26, 2012.^[2]

Lawmakers approved a $14.6 billion bill to fund public schools, community colleges and universities next year.^[1] The education bill increases higher education funding by 3 percent, but does not make up for the 15 percent cuts instituted in FY2012.^[1] The omnibus budget bill became Public Act 200 of 2012 and the education budget is Public Act 201 of 2012.

Education and health and human services comprise 75 percent of state budget spending.^[11]

Budget highlights include:^[1]

• raising the minimum per pupil funding amount from $6,846 to $6,966, a $120 increase;^[12]
• increases for state police training;^[1]
• increases in health care; ^[1]
• heat assistance for the poor;^[1]
• $130 million into the state's rainy day savings account;^[1][13] bringing the account to $505 million, its largest balance in more than a decade.^[2] and
• 3 percent increase in funding for community colleges and universities with performance metrics that keep college tuition down.^[11]

Education Budget

The education budget for FY2013 raises the minimum per pupil funding amount from $6,846 to $6,966, a $120 increase.^[14] $200 million more for public schools, which will get $12.9 billion overall.

For higher education, universities will see a 3 percent increase in funding, but the budget requires universities to limit tuition and fee increases to no more than 4 percent. If schools exceed that limit, they will lose part of their state funding. Increases include:^[15]

• $36 million increase for public universities, to a total of $1.4 billion in state funding;^[15]
• Community colleges will get $10.3 million more, for a total of $294 million.^[15]

Legislative proposed budget

Senate and House of Representatives approved a $7.5-billion general fund budget, which covers 13 state agencies, on May 31, 2012. The House approved the budget by a vote of 61-49 and the Senate voted 20-16. The education budgets are separate from the general fund budget.^[16]

Highlights of the legislative budget include:

• an additional $25 million for additional film industry incentives, and the governor said he could agree to the increase;^[16]
• $44 million more for The Michigan State Police, including $18 million for additional troopers and enhanced services in high-crime areas, such as Detroit, Pontiac, Saginaw and Flint;
• the rainy day fund got a $140-million cash infusion, which could help the state boost its credit rating;
• $10.8 million in The Department of Corrections' budget to restructure the prison system.^[16]

Republicans, who control the Senate, plan to spend roughly $150 million less overall than what Gov. Snyder proposed for FY2013 due to lower-than-anticipated tax revenue.^[17]

Governor's proposed budget

Gov. Rick Scott unveiled his $48.2 billion proposed budget for FY2013 on Feb. 9, 2012. The proposed budget can be found here. Under the proposal, the state's general fund will total $9.2 billion, while the school aid fund would be $11.4 billion. The proposed transportation budget totals $3.3 billion.^[18] The budget includes a $457-million onetime surplus from 2011 and about $630 million in projected increased revenues for 2012 and 2013. Snyder's plan socks away $130 million to boost Michigan’s Rainy Day Fund.^[19]

Education and health and human services account for 75% of the proposed budget.^[20] It is also the first budget in more than a decade to increase funding for local governments, allocating an extra 2% for constitutional revenue sharing, plus additional money municipalities would compete for based on adopting "best practices."^[21]

Highlights of the governor's proposed budget include:

• offering $200 million to K-12 school districts that engage in best practices;^[18]
• increasing funding to state universities by $36.2 million or 3 percent, with much of it tied to performance incentives and keeping tuition hikes to no more than 4 percent;^[18]
• $119 million from the general fund to fix up roads and bridges;^[19]
• $50 million in increased public safety funding, with a focus on Detroit, Flint, Pontiac and Saginaw;^[18]
• $209 million for thew newly created Michigan Office of Great Start, which focuses on early childhood education;^[18]
• $195 million to boost the state's economic development efforts, with a special emphasis on "economic gardening."^[18]

FY2012 State Budget

• See past state budgets

Gov. Snyder asked the legislature for $38.25 million from the state's general fund to pay a portion of the $106 million the state owes in interest on Michigan's $3.1 billion federal unemployment insurance debt. The remaining portion of the interest payment will come from a state solvency tax that went into effect this year on Michigan employers, and from state unemployment penalty and interest funds.^[22]

On June 21, 2011, Gov. Rick Snyder signed the FY2012 $47 billion budget into law.^[23] The two budget bills signed by the governor were House Bill 4526 and House Bill 4325. The last time the state had a completed budget in place this early was 1981.^[11][23]

The budget assumes $265 million in savings in 2011-12 from employee concessions. The governor hopes to convince state employee unions to reopen their contracts to provide those concessions, and delayed making layoffs in September 2011. The union contracts do not expire until the end of the 2012 calendar year.^[24] One of the concessions the governor seeks is having employees increase the percentage of health care costs that they pay for from 10% to 20%. At the unions' urging, the governor agreed to study whether the state government had too many managers, and to consider reducing the number of managers. The state's ratio at the time the study started was 6 employees to each manager. The union claims that if the ratio was 7 to 1 that the state would save $75 million.^[25]

In FY2012, the state deposited $362.7 million into its emergency fund, a fund that in FY2011 had a balance of only $2.2 million.^[26]

Before the budget was signed into law the state faced a projected $1.85 billion deficit in FY2012.^[27][28]

The governor said that the budget would foster a stable environment for business, due in large part to a tax cut that essentially does away with business taxes on companies except large corporations with shareholders. The elimination of that tax could cost the state $1 billion in revenue in FY2012.^[29] The budget taxes public pensions and reduced exemptions for private pensions.^[30]

The budget includes several cuts in funding. The $12.7-billion School Aid Fund gives districts $12.7 billion, $300 per pupil less than FY2011, a 2.2% reduction. However, school districts that show cost-cutting initiatives could receive additional funds from a $100-million fund. Public universities will see 22% less in state aid -- 15% if they hold down tuition costs to 7% or less. Local government will receive $100 million less.^[11]

The governor vetoed some portions of the budget bill, including a $4.25 million adoption subsidy,^[29] and he made it clear that some language in the bill was not legally enforceable, including provisions regarding universities offering health care benefits to employees' domestic partners and ignore some language in the bill that's not legally enforceable. That includes provisions added by Republican lawmakers that would have penalized universities that offered health care benefits to employees' domestic partners and requiring public universities doing embryonic stem cells to report data to the state.^[29][11]

The state receives about $400 million a week from the federal government, which is approximately 44 percent of the total state budget.^[31]

Deal negotiated

On April 12, 2011, the governor and legislative leaders announced that they had reached a budget deal that would modify the governor's proposed tax on pensions and delay a scheduled reduction in the personal income tax rate but also makes $150 million in undetermined spending cuts in addition to those originally proposed by the governor.^[32]

Taxes

The pension income tax exemption will continue but would exempt those aged 67 and older from the tax, and for those between 60 to 66 years old, the first $20,000 would be exempt for an individual and the first $40,000 for a couple. For retirees aged 59 and younger, pensions would be taxed at the full rate until they turn 67. All income, including Social Security income, would apply against that higher-than-normal exemption, he said. The tentative agreement would delay that planned income tax reduction to Jan. 1, 2013, generating an additional $210 million in revenue.^[32]

The legislature enacted a 6% flat tax on corporations, replacing the state's complex business tax and reducing corporate income taxes by $1 billion for FY2012, which starts Oct. 1. The Senate narrowly passed the measure, with Lt. Gov. Brian Calley casting the tie-breaking vote.^[33]

Education

On May 5, 2011, the House approved the its education funding bill by a vote of 57-53. The House proposal would cut school funding by an additional $256 to $297 per student. That's on top of a $170 per student cut that's already in place and would be carried over into next fiscal year. Funding for community colleges and universities also would be cut.^[34] The Senate Appropriations Committee is considering a bill that would reduce state aid by $340 per pupil.^[35] Differences will have to be reconciled before a budget can be adopted.

Governor's proposed budget

After being sworn in, Gov. Rick Snyder promised to have a two-year state budget in place by July 1, whereas the state has typically had a one-year budget and it has taken until Oct. 1 to finalize it.^[36]

The governor named John Nixon, Utah's budget director, as Michigan's new state budget director as of January 1, 2011.^[37]

In Feb. 2011, Gov. Snyder introduced a $45 billion budget intended to close a $2 billion budget deficit for 2012. The budget includes a series of cuts in several state departments. Snyder wants lawmakers to cut the state budget by $1.5 billion, boost income tax revenue by more than $1.7 billion and cut business taxes by $1.8 billion.

Prior to submitting his budget proposal, Snyder unveiled the Citizen's Guide to Michigan's Financial Health which lays out the state of the Michigan economy. The guide shows the state’s citizens are poorer, older and deeper in debt than they were a decade ago. The guide also shows that taxpayer obligations for pensions and health care for retired public workers are unsustainable. It also points out that the 15 percent of workers in the state who are public employees have seen their salaries rise over the last decade, while private employees in the state have experienced diminished paychecks and fewer job perks. ^[38]

To close the state's deficit, Gov. Snyder proposed a new tax on pensions and a flat corporate tax that would end billions of dollars of tax incentives. He also proposed reduce funding to municipalities, education budgets, and public retiree health benefits.^[39]

Central to the budget is a reshaping of tax policy that eliminates the state's complex business tax and replaces it with a flat 6 percent corporate-profit tax that would raise about $1 billion less revenue. ^[40] Some of Snyder's proposals include: ^[41]

• Dropping the individual income tax rate from 4.35 percent to 4.25 percent.
• Remove the Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit that provides an average $432 benefit to some 800,000 low-wage filers
• Eliminate the state income tax exemption for pensions.
• Eliminate business credits awarded for films.
• Eliminate statutory revenue sharing payments for cities, villages, and townships in Fiscal Year 2012, leading to a net savings of $92.1 million.
• Cut per pupil funds $300, in addition to the currently budgeted $170 per pupil reduction.
• Eliminate 300 field worker positions in the Department of Human Services.
• Close one prison to be named later this year.
• Reduce the number of Michigan State Police posts, saving $3.2 million.
• Reduce state aid to libraries in the Department of Education budget by $2.3 million in the general fund, with $950,000 directed to the Michigan eLibrary, resulting in net savings of $1.4 million.
• Sets a lifetime limit of 48 months for residents to receive welfare payments, with exemptions for incapacity and hardship.

The proposal also has $200 million for a new incentive-based revenue sharing program for cities, villages, and townships. Those standards will be detailed in March.

Snyder also plans to tax the pension income of senior citizens to the tune of $900 million in order to offset losses from a $1.9 billion cut in business taxes. ^[42] Current Michigan law exempts all Social Security, public pension payments, IRA, annuity and employer-contributed 401(k) withdrawals from income tax. Under proposed law, all retirement income, except for Social Security, would be taxed at a 4.25-percent rate. Snyder said senior citizens make up about 13 percent of the state's population today, and that figure grows close to 20 percent over the next 20 years.

He later revised his original pension tax proposal, calling instead for raising about $300 million through retiree income tax changes. That plan was passed by the House Tax Policy Committee on April 27, 2011.^[43]

Over the first decade of the new millennium Michigan was in a recession as its manufacturing base crumbled and its population declined. During that time special interests and lawmakers fought over dwindling revenues. When Snyder was elected in 2010 he announced there were going to be shared pains in the new budget, including attempts to change the tax status of pensions. In Michigan, public pensions are fully tax-exempt and private pensions are exempted up to $42,240. ^[44] In 1997 Michigan shifted to a defined contribution retirement plan for its public employees.

Snyder is hoping the legislature will pass his budget plan by early May.

It is unlikely all of Snyder's goals will be included in the final budget passed by the legislature. State lawmakers told the South Bend Tribune that cuts are necessary, but the final budget may show cuts in areas other than what Snyder proposed. ^[45]

Education Cuts

School administrators fear Gov. Snyder's proposed cuts will force school districts to cut staff, close buildings, privatize some services, create more online courses and cause administrators to share more duties, measures Snyder maintains will cause school districts to become more efficient while still providing an excellent education. Michigan has more than 500 school districts.^[46] More than half of Michigan's school districts include fewer than 2,000 students.^[47]

Snyder proposed cuts between 8 and 10% for school districts, which translates into a $715-per-student reduction. Those reductions include the loss of $170 per student in federal money, a $300 cut by Snyder in per-pupil funding and the fact that districts have to pay a bigger share of pensions, costing them $245 per student, according to the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council.^[48]

Several media outlets in Michigan, including the Detroit Free Press, are calling for the consolidation of some school districts following the release of a 2010 Michigan State University study. The study said taxpayers could save $612 million a year after three years by consolidating districts around county lines, without closing any schools. Putting all public school transportation, food service and operations and maintenance at the county level would save $328 million, the study said.^[49]

Snyder also proposed to shift $896 million in the school aid fund to colleges and universities. The proposed shift from that fund, typically used for k-12 programs, angered public educators who say institutes of higher learning have other means to raise funds. ^[50]

Snyder has not thrown support behind bills in the legislature that would eliminate tenure, freeze teachers' pay if a contract expires, force teachers to pay at least 20 percent of their health care costs or otherwise affect collective bargaining rights. ^[51]

Snyder's proposed educational budget cuts are not popular. According to an EPIC-MRA poll, 62 percent oppose Snyder's plan, with 32 percent in favor and 6 percent undecided. The poll surveyed 600 likely voters from Feb. 26 through Tuesday and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.^[52] According to Ann Arbor school leaders, the district was facing a $7 million deficit, but if Snyder's proposals are approved, that deficit could jump to between $15 and $20 million. ^[53]

Union protests

On Feb. 22, 2011, hundreds of union members lobbied at the state Capitol, urging lawmakers to vote against measures they say would threaten collective bargaining rights, while smaller groups of activists rallied outside the Capitol against other budget proposals, including the elimination of some tax exemptions and reductions in school funding.^[54]

Union members are upset over the Republican-controlled legislature's attempts to take away binding arbitration, which allows a neutral party to determine what is and isn't fair in contracts for police and fire departments. ^[55]

Other legislative proposals angering Michigan union leaders include emergency financial managers powers to remove elected officials and break labor contracts as they work to turn around failing schools and cities. ^[56] The measures change the way emergency financial managers are selected and expand their authority, including suspending collective bargaining for up to five years and rejecting labor agreements.

Other proposals raised by Michigan lawmakers that upset labor organizations include a plan to create right-to-work zones and repeal the prevailing wage law.

Some of the protesters at the capitol are also protesting Detroit Public School’s emergency manager Robert Bobb’s plan to close public school, which will increase class sizes to 60 students. The deficit elimination plan filed with the state in January by emergency financial manager Robert Bobb, is expected to wipe out the district's $327 million deficit by 2014. ^[57]

The American Association of Retired Persons is planning to protest Snyder's proposal to tax senior's pension payments. The AARP called Snyder's proposals an "all out attack on older Michiganders." ^[58] Current AARP Michigan President Eric Schneidewind says the measure would take money from seniors and hand it to corporations. ^[59]

On March 16 a host of progressive groups, led by state unions, will protest at the state capitol on a range of issues including budget proposals and 40 pieces of legislation that activists say would undermine collective bargaining rights in the state. ^[60]

Budget transparency

• See sample transparency legislation at the Sunshine Standard

At present, no department of Michigan state government provides a comprehensive and searchable online checkbook register that gives a full and timely accounting for all expenditures. Spokespersons for the office of Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm have asserted that providing such a service for all of Michigan state government would cost in excess of $100 million, and is thus cost-prohibitive given the state's recurring inability to align desired spending with available revenue.^[61]

News

• State Rep. Tom McMillin, R-Rochester Hills, said he has pushed for Michigan to follow Missouri's lead and post more information online but was told that it would cost $100-150 million to put data on the Internet the way Missouri has done.^[62] Gov. Snyder's spokeswoman said those estimates "seem to be somewhat off base."^[62]

• Proposal to open budget meetings: In January of 2010 State House and Senate members considered a proposal, which would open traditionally closed state budget meeting to the public. The reform is building off other proposals such as earlier deadlines for adopting a budget and docking lawmakers' pay for not adopting a budget in time.^[63]

• Michigan Department of State provides first online expenditure report:On April 23, 2008, Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land announced that the Michigan Department of State would begin posting quarterly expenditure reports.^[64] These reports provide the names for most of the recipients of departmental funds, the general category for the expenditures and the total amount paid during the preceding quarter.^[64] The MDOS made the decision to post this expenditure report after a request from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy's "Show Michigan the Money" transparency project.^[65] The MDOS report is presently the only regular accounting of expenditures provided by any department of state government. The MDOS report does have limitations. It is provided as a searchable PDF document, but does not provide check numbers nor is it subdivided by date for individual transactions. The reports also do not provide the names, titles and salaries paid to departmental employees. (However, the names of employees and amounts paid to them for travel and other work-related reimbursements are included in the reports.)
• Governor's response to lack of online "check register":Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm has responded to calls to put the state "check register" online by asserting that current information systems could not provide this information, and making the capable of doing so would be too costly. An April 9, 2008 report by the Michigan Information News Service (MIRS, subscription required) reported that a letter to House leaders from state Department of Information Technology (DIT) director Ken Theis said that the state's financial accounting mainframe computer system acquired in the in 1980s would require "extensive" upgrades costing between $100 million and $150 million to produce the kind of searchable spending database that Missouri has created. The point of the Mackinac Center request referred to above was merely to ask state departments to replicate the Secretary of State standard, leaving them to decide whether or not they wished to exceed it. As reported on the Mackinac Center's "Show me the money" website, using the same mainframe computer system the Michigan Secretary of State department posts quarterly spending reports at an initial cost of $2,400, and $700 for each new quarterly report. If those figures were extended to the entire state government the initial cost to produce similar quarterly reports would be $516,000, and $129,000 per quarterly report, or 0.0012 percent and 0.00035 percent of the annual budget, respectively.^[66] The reply to the Mackinac Center's request from the Office of the Governor also addressed employee salary information, stating that "this level of detail provides little value to the taxpayer."^[67]
• In February 2009, two freshmen Republican members of the Michigan House (Amash and McMillin) began posting detailed records of their own office spending, including itemized monthly expenditures by category, and the names and salaries of their legislative aides. The House Republican caucus has claimed that it is posting detailed spending data, but to date these two legislators are the only ones actually doing so.

Government tools

The following table is helpful in evaluating the level of transparency provided by a state spending and transparency database:

State Database	Searchability	Grants	Contracts	Line Item Expenditures	Dept/Agency Budgets	Public Employee Salary
Michigan Transparency and Accountability	N	N	P	N	Y	N

See also: Evaluation of Michigan state website

Independent transparency sites

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy has a transparency website, "Show Michigan The Money"

The National Taxpayers Union produces an "www.showmethespending.org" website, with weekly transparency e-updates. This is expected to include Michigan data at some point.

Multi-Measure Budget Transparency Profile

The Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois has created a multi-measure transparency profile for Michigan, which measures state transparency as of September 2011 using indicators from a range of organizations, including Sunshine Review. These indicators measure both website transparency and other recognized facets of governmental transparency. In addition, IGPA presents four unique indicators of non-transparency based on the observation that transfers or reassignments between general and special funds can obscure the true fiscal condition of a state.

In addition to the individual state profile, IGPA offers a 50-state comparison and profiles for other states.

Budget Background

The Michigan Constitution requires the Governor to propose an Executive Budget for state activities on an annual basis. By law the Executive Budget must be submitted to the Legislature within thirty days after the Legislature convenes in regular session on the second Wednesday in January. However, when a newly elected Governor is inaugurated into office, sixty days are allowed to prepare the proposal. The Executive Budget is more than a statutory requirement. It represents a statement of priorities for the policy activities of state government. Therefore, a detailed budget preparation process is necessary to provide information that will help the Governor and the Legislature allocate state resources most effectively. The budget process can be broken down into four stages:^[68]

According to the Michigan Constitution, no appropriation is a mandate to spend. The Governor, by Executive Order and with the approval of the appropriations committees, can reduce expenditures whenever it appears that actual revenues for a fiscal period will fall below the revenue estimates on which the appropriations for that period are based. By statute, any recommendation for the reduction of expenditures must be approved or disapproved by both of the Appropriations Committees within ten days after the recommendation is made. A reduction cannot be made without approval from both committees; not later than thirty days after a proposed order is disapproved, the Governor may submit alternative recommendations for expenditure reductions to the committees for their approval or disapproval.^[69]

Budget figures

The following table shows total state spending in recent years.

General Fund^[72]

Accounting Principles

The Michigan Office of the Auditor General has the responsibility, as stated in Article 4, Section 53 of the State Constitution, to conduct post financial and performance audits of State government operations. In addition, certain sections of the Michigan Compiled Laws contain specific audit requirements in conformance with the constitutional mandate. Thomas H. McTavish has served as Michigan Auditor General since 1989. Michigan's audit reports are published online.^[73]

The Institute for Truth in Accounting (IFTA) rates Michigan “Timely” in filing the state’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) – The annual report of state and local governmental entities. IFTA rated 22 states timely, 22 states tardy, and 6 states as worst. IFTA does not consider Michigan's CAFRs, and those of the other states, to be accurate representations of the state’s financial condition because the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) basis does not include significant liabilities for the pension plans and for other post employment benefits, such as health care.^[74] Michigan's CAFRs are published online by the Michigan Office of State Budget, Office of Financial Management. Michael J. Moody is the Director Office of Financial Management. Bob Emerson is the Director of the Office of State Budget.^[75]

In July 2011, Fitch Ratings revised its outlook for Michigan bonds from "stable" to "positive," while leaving the state's overall rating at AA-.^[76]

Stimulus

Michigan received $8.6 billion in federal funding.^[77]

Public Employees

According to 2008 Census data, the state of Michigan and local governments in the state employed a total of 600,755 people.^[78] Of those employees, 396,691 were full-time employees receiving a net pay of $1,789,954,900 per month and 204,064 were part-time employees paid $210,303,706 per month.^[78] More than 60% of those employees, or 361,757 employees, were in education or higher education.^[78] Michigan state workers today receive approximately 47% more in total compensation than their private-sector counterparts.^[79] The average state worker, who makes about $54,000 a year.^[80]

See Also

• Michigan government sector lobbying
• Michigan public pensions

External links

Additional reading

• Gov. Jennifer Granholm,"State of the State address 2010," February 11, 2010
• Gov. Granholm,"State of the State address 2009"
• Lansing State Journal,"40 ways to cut the Michigan budget deficit," May 17,2009
• Associated Press,"More bad news ahead for Michigan state budgets," May 13,2009

References

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