By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-879566.mp3
LANSING, MI –
The pace of job losses in Michigan will slow down this year, and the state will start to add jobs in 2011. That was the message Monday from economists to a budget panel holding a hearing at the state Capitol.
AUDIO:
The good news is the worst appears to be over, and Michigan is eyeing the beginning of a recovery. The bad news -- that recovery will be very slow, and state tax revenues won't return to pre-recession levels.
Michigan won't have to cut funding for schools, state departments, and local governments during this fiscal year. But there is a $2 billion shortfall in the fiscal year that begins in October.
State Treasurer Robert Kleine says Governor Granholm will call for fixing that when she presents her new budget plan to the Legislature next month.
"We're talking seriously about tax reform and about spending reform," he says. "I think when the budget comes out you might see some things in the budget that are fairly significant."
Kleine says Michigan and other states might get some more help from the federal government to pay their bills, but it would be a mistake to count on that this early in the game.