By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
LANSING, MI –
Michigan faces an expected deficit of about a half-billion dollars in this year's budget. That means lawmakers will have to act quickly to fill that hole in the next couple months.
Republican state Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop says he wants to avoid handing out furlough days to state employees, or raising taxes to fill the budget gap.
"We just have to be very careful that we don't, we don't come up with remedies that are short-term," he says. "And I think that a revenue increase right now would have a dramatic impact on people and businesses. A very negative impact."
Officials say the deficit comes from the state having to repay businesses that overpaid their business taxes. Lawmakers will hear more from analysts later this week about this year's budget deficit.