The Michigan Attorney General’s office has made some devastating announcement earlier this week. Due to the disastrous impact of the pandemic on the economy, the General’s office has decided to temporarily lay off 100 employees (25 percent of the staff). Kelly Rossman-McKinney, the spokesperson for the department revealed that the notice was issued on Tuesday to the affected employees. She further said that the decision directly reflects “the difficult reality we all face.”

She said, “While certain areas of the Department’s legal work have dramatically increased as a result of this emergency, other areas have slowed. The staff at this department does amazing work on behalf of the people of this state every single day. We will continue to do that, regardless of the challenges that arise in the future.”

She didn’t confirm which department of the office she was speaking about.

Just a couple of days ago, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced that she will be foregoing 10 percent of her pay until this pandemic settles down, and has asked her senior staff to forego 5 percent of their salary during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To control the damage caused by the Coronavirus, Michigan was put on lockdown. Due to this reason, many businesses and offices were shut down entirely.

This, obviously, resulted in a major economic slowdown. Hence, it can be established that Michigan’s budget isn’t immune to the shortage.

Source: Craine’s Detroit Business

Since the lockdown and stay-at-home orders, people have been spending less money as a result of which the sale tax revenue have decreased significantly. The unemployment rate is higher than ever before, and so, the lawmakers and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has have only a few months left to come up with an effective solution and make a difference.

Recently, a suggestion was put forth by Senate Appropriations Chair Jim Stamas, R-Midland. He suggested that the government should lay off non-essential state employees in the administration and legislation. Anyway, no decision has been announced as of yet.