State of Michigan Shutdown?

Question

I am not a resident of the state of Michigan, but I'm hearing about a state shut down there. Why is Michigan doing that and how long will they be shut down?

this is an article about a state shut down:
battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll.article?AID=20070928/NEWS01/309280013

Answer 1

the answer to that is "somewhat" simple. You see the State of Michigan has not had a raise in taxes in YEARS. i understand no one likes to hear those awful words but...it is inevitable at this point. I hear so many people saying "we need to cut this, cut that" Well for you idiots out there. We don't have ALL that much more to cut. Unless it is salary for the legistlator and having a part time legislator like most states do. But of course the ones that would vote on that would be none other than...THE LEGISTLATORS. Anyway in answer to your ?. The reason we (I am a state employee) are being shut down is because Michigan has NO MONEY for the fiscal year. what that means is there is no way to pay any bills. No way to pay workers for the State of michigan. No way to do lots and lots of things that money requires. The Republican Legislator has done nothing but crush any ideas the Democratic (and some republicans) have had to fix our budget. The Republicans try to make everyone their "friends" by saying...no new taxes. Well lets look at this...who would most greatly affected by this...the people who make large amts of money! Again the Republican legislator is a large portion of those wealthy individuals. I hear everyday how many people blame granholm for what is going on. what most don't realize is that the state was in a 4 Million dollar defeciet. Now we are at 1.8 million, give or take. so I would say that is pretty darn good. So instead of the Republicans and Democrats for that matter swallowing their pride and saying ok...we can do "some" more cuts but for a long term fix we need to raise taxes. SO WHAT if people are angry. those people have been angry for years and will be until someone comes into government that will kiss their behinds and fill their heads full of rubbish (ex: George W Bush...we give you $ back for your taxes...blah blah blah). Anyway...so if these two parties can't agree on how to make our budget problem resolved and to have something up and running to generate revenue we state of Michigan employees are well...screwed. No job...no unemployement. SCREWED. However I don't believe this will last more than one or two days. The state of Pennsylvania did this some few years back and they were shut down for 3-4 days. Most don't know that it has happened in other states. Anyway...I hope to see my beautiful tiny little cubicle by Wed oct 3rd.

Answer 2

There seems to be a little confusion here. The possible state shutdown isn't because of a lack of money. The state has enough money to continue to provide services. Rather, the shutdown is coming from the fact that the state legislature is still arguing over how to do the budget. This does stem from the fact that there is a large deficit in Michigan, and they're arguing over how to fix that deficit, but the cause for the shutdown would be that, without a budget in place, the state has no legal authority to spend any money, so when the new fiscal year starts on October 1st, they have to shut down all "non-essential" spending on services and personnel. So instead of making sure vital services stay open and the people of Michigan are served, these idiots in Lansing would rather argue over who's plan to fix the budget is better.

If the state does shut down, the whole lot of them should be voted out on the next election. It's absolutely incredible that the state legislature has this level of dysfunctional that they would let state services shut down and put civic workers (many of whom live paycheck to paycheck) out of a job for who knows how long just to play a partisan game of "mine-is-bigger-than-yours".

Answer 3

Everyone is upset with the talk of a shut down. I don't blame them. A lot of things have happened in Michigan that nobody saw coming. From the auto industry declining to schools have many financial troubles. Now this.
If a shut down does occur then someone else needs to step in to get the job done. Obviously no one can come to an agreement on the budget. If we are in that much financial trouble in Michigan and have such a deficit then why would the govenor grant money to a township in Michigan to build a park? Like 2 million dollars or something. Sorry but I live in this township and another park is the last thing that we need. First we need more tourist and to get those we need to offer more jobs. A lot of people who visited here or owned second homes were those who are now layed off from the auto industry. So we don't need another park! So why would they even grant that much money. I see their point of view on it but at the same time no one is going to drive 2-3 hours to see a little park that has one gazebo and a pier!
Maybe if we had someone who was business oriented things would be a little different....we may have been better off from where we are now?

Answer 4

The state of Michigan has a billion dollar deficit that has to be solved before the new budget can be approved. The house and then senate are arguing over how the debt should be solved and legally the new budget can't be created until the old one is solved. And if an agreement isn't reached by midnight of Sunday all government offices will shut down. Along with schools whenever they run out of money. The school I go to can stay open for 2 weeks until there will be no cash in their account.

Answer 5

The reason we're shutting down is because of a $500 million deficit in the budget. The auto industry is suffering, and since Michigan never decided that we never needed to invest in anything other than the auto makers, the whole state is suffering. The shutdown is scheduled for Oct 1st I believe, but hopefully it won't come to that.
Not to get too political but when you hear about socialized healthcare going to free loaders and deadbeats, remember that it adds between 800-1400 in additional costs to every new American automobile, making it alot more affordable to move plants to Mexico and Canada where those costs don't exist, and now thousands of Auto workers here are losing their jobs.

Answer 6

I don't think the state will shut down although some aspects may be. why the threat and possible shut down? With this threat looming in the future there is the hope that there will be less outrage over the tax increases the people of Michigan face.
We allow the heaviest trucks in the nation on our roads here which causes the need for more road repairs.
We have many state appointed officials being paid upwards of $300,000 a year
Michigan is very auto plant financed and when too many cars were being recalled - still are often for that matter - people went to other cars like Toyota and VW to name just two and when they found that they could get a dependable vehicle for less money with fewer problems and less recalls, they continued to buy the imports.
Michigan now has the worst economy and the most jobless of any other state and yet only California pays their elected officials more than those in Michigan.
These things cause less tax money to be received since there are so many without jobs and many people are leaving the state. If you drive down some streets - in my area, just north of Detroit - it is impossible to drive over a block without seeing a home repossessed by the bank and almost every industrial area has at least one business closed down.
Many high school graduates now attend colleges outside of Michigan to such an extent there was recently a special on tv by a local channel to explain the advantages of several Michigan colleges sponsored, or course, by those schools. At the same time, the University of Phoenix was talking about why students should go there on television.
The City of Detroit recently hired a school administrator for the school system they are paying over $300,000 a year and yet a large number of schools are being closed because of a lack of money and many qualified teachers are leaving the area as well - Nevada recently had an ad in a local paper seeking to hire Michigan teachers at more then they were paid here and offered a $2.000 signing bonus as well.
By ignoring these facts and simply threatening to shut down the state, politicians hope to face less backlash because of the higher income tax to be charged. the increased rates in park fees, the increased tax on cigarettes, and several other taxes being considered without the possibility of having to take any pay cut themselves. To borrow a sign once posted elsewhere in this country, will the last person out of Michigan please to turn out the lights!!

Answer 7

I am a state employee and will not be working today due to the shutdown. Why we are having a shutdown is because we have an incompetent legislature that cannot reach an agreement on the budget after 8 months.

Answer 8

Sad, isn't it? Most of the auto manufacturers have moved to Canada, Mexico, or overseas. Since that is what has provided jobs for so many in Michigan, it created a hardship. I guess it's called greed, and top management isn't suffering. People blame the unions, and they probably are responsible for the corporate flight, too. Stockholders demand more profit, while laborers want fair wages, creating an atmosphere of a standoff, and it was more profitable to lay off people and move where they could get cheaper labor. My Dad built some of the very first Cadillacs for GM around 1909. All our family worked, at one time, for the auto industry. I know how Detroit looked before I moved to California and what it looks like now. It's like a war zone in a lot of neighborhoods. Very sad!

Answer 9

Yeah, we are having a shutdown. If the governor and lawmakers do not strike a deal on an emergency budged by 12am Monday, the state will shut down partially. Then they have until October 22nd to try again or the state will shut down fully, we don't know how long.

I have a few relatives who work for the state government and police and they have gotten letters telling them not to come to work on monday. All I know is, someone out there with money please help us. As mentioned before "Greed" is what has happened.

Here is a list of things that will happen when the state shuts down.

Partial Shut Down-

Health care will cease.
Imported goods will cease from other countries and states.

Food safety inspections will cease.

Limited number of police patrols, Local, County and State.

Limited number of fire duties.

Lottery ticket sales, cigarette sales will cease.

All recreational areas and parks will close.

Secretary of state will shut down- Meaning no more driver license issuing or renewals. Also means you will no longer be able to pay that ticket you got from a cop.

Construction on roads will cease.

State forest/campgrounds and historical sites closed.

Mental health (Meaning if you take meds, expect no more medication)

-Full Shutdown

Schools will close, since teachers will be affected and there will be no money to pay.

Businesses will close, your favorite snack shop will no longer be open.

Public transportation, City bus and Trains will cease.

Gas stations will close (No more gas for your car, lawnmower or even electrict generator)

Colleges will shutdown.

Anything you can think of shutting down and ceasing that affects your daily life, is going to happen if our state doesn't reach a deal by the 12am deadline monday or gets help from someone else. Whether it be another country, state or very wealthy person.

Most of what I have said are proven facts I have gotten from local news sources, a few are my theories that will happen.

Other theories of mine. Riots, mass robberies. basically it will be the 1920's dust bowl all over again, except it will be all in Michigan. It will be a WWIII for Michigan.

Answer 10

I worked for years in the state's central accounting office and worked closely with the state's central budget office. Many many times the budget appropriations were not done in time for the new fiscal year. Sometimes due to conflicts like we are experiencing now, sometimes for other reasons.

Every time this has happened, legislature passed continuation budgets that provided for basic services so that things could continue for awhile without disruption.

Every governor prior to this one has always signed the continuation bill and things got ironed out without service disruption.

This governor has decided not to do this. Her reasons are likely because she has determined that she is more likely to get the results SHE wants. She is determined to raise taxes.

I am saddened to see that one of the tax increases will be a new tax on services. I am sad because my friend Don owns a small music repair shop. He has told me that he is already struggling to stay in business month after month. If they add this to his business, he will shut down and move back to Alaska where he was before he came to Michigan. It is true that it would be his customers paying this tax, but it would complicate his business to the point where it just wouldn't be worth staying in business here.

I'm sure it will have a similar effect on many of the numerous small businesses which provide 75% of total state employment.

Increasing taxes will slow down Michigan's economy even further. It's a tough business to be sure.