Western Wayne Today

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent economic struggles, the federal government passed another round of stimulus last week.

The bill includes many areas of funding, including direct checks to Americans, expanded child credits and funds to help businesses that are struggling during the pandemic and the impact that it has had on the economy. Each state will receive funds from the package, according to Michigan Capitol Confidential. 

This sets the stage for Michigan to receive one of the highest figures in history from the federal government for this fiscal year. In the last budget before the pandemic, the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the state received $23.2 billion in funding from the federal government. This represents what many consider to be the usual amount, though it is still higher than the elevated amounts that were seen during the recession over ten years ago. 

In fiscal year 2019-2020, the first year of the pandemic, the state received $33.7 billion from the federal government, which represents a 45% increase over the previous year. This year, that figure will be about $25.7 billion, which is less than last year, but still well above the pre-pandemic levels.

This figure does not include any future stimulus that may be passed by the federal government. There is talk of additional stimulus on top of what has been passed, which would raise the figure by about $5.7 billion, says Michigan Capitol Confidential.

A similar situation occurred during the recession and housing market crash of 2007 to 2008, in which Michigan's available federal funds rose from $14.7 billion to $21.1 billion. Some are concerned that the federal share of the state budget will continue to trend larger, making the state increasingly more dependent on federal funds. Policymakers and experts will scrutinize the budget in the coming years to examine which way it trends going forward in the face of increased inflation and an uncertain economic future.