Michigan has a budget problem, and simply put, there just isn’t enough money to go around. Michigan has experienced crisis after crisis—the Great Recession, nearly record-high unemployment, municipal financial emergencies, the city of Detroit’s bankruptcy, the Flint water crisis and the financial struggles of Detroit Public Schools to name a few. In attempting to fix them, the state has relied on budget cuts, temporary Band-Aids or one-time pots of money. It hasn’t worked. Michigan’s disinvestment in its schools, infrastructure, communities and people needs to be reversed, and it cannot do so without more revenue.
Unfortunately, at the same time that the state needs more money, policy trends have continually pulled more out of our state budget. In recent history, we have spent more in state and local tax credits, deductions and exemptions each year than we do in total budget spending from state general and restricted funds—a difference of roughly $4 billion in 2015. On top of this, instead of increasing revenues to cover increasing costs, the Legislature shifts around our revenue streams, leaving potential shortfalls to be resolved with budget cuts. Lawmakers need to have a better idea of how much money we are failing to collect, review existing tax expenditures and earmarks to make sure they are still good policy, and provide accountability for new tax breaks and other policy changes.
Large tax reductions proposed at a time when Mississippi already is cutting important public investments due to a lack of revenue would erode the state’s ability to create jobs and have a competitive economy. Over the past two years, major tax cut proposals have been proposed that would cut and flatten the state’s income tax and cut corporate taxes, including the state’s corporate franchise tax. The proposed cuts would reduce general fund collections and limit revenue to fund schools, support public safety, protect public health and invest in the state’s road and bridge system. These tax cut proposals have come at an especially inopportune time because Mississippi’s state finances are already under severe pressure.
Allowing Coloradans to split their state income tax refunds among several accounts would enable families to save while meeting immediate needs. Coloradans could directly deposit part of their refunds in a 529 college savings account, helping increase the opportunities for students from low- to moderate-income families to attend and graduate from college.
What does it take to get by these days? This latest edition of The Cost of Living in Iowa answers this question. The report details how much working families must earn in order to meet their basic needs and underscores the importance of public work support programs for many Iowans, who despite their work efforts, are not able to pay for the most basic living expenses.
The basic-needs budgets constructed for this report represent a very frugal living standard; using costs as of 2015 (with the exception of health insurance), the budgets are based on what is needed to “survive” rather than “thrive.” This includes allowances for rent, utilities, food prepared at home, child care, health care, transportation, clothing and other household necessities. The basic budget does not include savings, loan payments, education expenses, any entertainment or vacation, social or recreational travel, or meals outside the home.