The Michigan Legislature wrapped up work on budget bills in a marathon session that lasted until early Friday, but there’s still be plenty more to be done because the state has billions to put towards services, savings or tax cuts.
The budget bills are now awaiting Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s signature and line-item vetoes, but the administration and lawmakers are looking ahead to determine how to use a combined $7 billion remaining in the General Fund and School Aid Fund.
“I look forward to working with the Legislature and furthering this spirit of collaboration to invest the billions of dollars in additional revenue we still have on the table to offer real relief to families right now, especially as they face rising prices on groceries, gas and other everyday expenses,” Whitmer said in a statement released by her office.
Republican Representative Thomas Albert chairs the House Appropriations Committee. He says the state has enough left to pay down debt, put money into savings and fund tax cuts.
“We have $7 billion that’s unspent, so I think there’s plenty of room for both a cushion and looking for tax relief,” he told Michigan Public Radio.
Representative Joe Tate is the top Democrat on the committee. He says that remaining money could be used for a lot of things. Tate says he’d like to look at an increase in the earned income tax credit for low-income workers.
“I’m really viewing that as a real opportunity to for us to do and do it in an ongoing fashion that won’t put us in any fiscal stress in the future,” he told Michigan Public Radio.
Boosting the tax credit on earned income is an area of bipartisan agreement that has just never made it into a final budget deal, but there’s still time and the money to do it.
The tax credit will be competing, though, with the Republican preference for a state income tax rate cut, while Whitmer has called for a one-time tax rebate.
Discussions on all that will continue during the state Legislature’s three-week summer recess, but the chance to use $7 billion to win over taxpayers in an election year is a good problem to have, especially when inflation is running high.