WASHINGTON (WHTC-AM/FM) – If Lansing is expecting Washington for a financial bailout of a $2.2 billion-dollar state budget hole caused by COVID 19-related health restrictions, they may have another thing coming.
According to MIRS News, state Budget Director Chris Kolb “expects” leaders in the White House and Congress to assist the state, with “some flexibility” in the federal money already coming to the state, “if we’re going to save lives and provide critical services to Michiganders throughout this crisis.”
While Democrats who control the US House have already pushed through such financial aid, Republicans such as Congressman Bill Huizenga of Zeeland say that Capitol Hill shouldn’t be counted on to balance state budgets.
“That’s not my job,” he said on “WHTC Morning News” during his weekly interview on Thursday. “I did that job for six years when I was there (Huizenga was a state Representative from 2003-2008), and it’s a difficult job. I fully understand that.
“The Governor not making difficult decisions is not a path forward for having to deal with this.”
Huizenga added that he wouldn’t support any additional funding to the state until what he claims is nearly $4 billion already allocated for local communities in Michigan in the federal CARES Act is actually freed up by the Whitmer Administration to those communities.
