"Moody's Investors Service upgraded Detroit's bond rating again , getting the city one step closer to a major milestone in its financial recovery after falling into bankruptcy a decade ago."
This year's report found that 31 states did not have enough money to pay all of their bills.
By Harold Ford, includes “Flint Community Schools (FCS) can expect a rosier financial picture in the short-term due to an infusion of Federal COVID relief funds and debt relief, according to an audit report by the accounting firm Plante Moran. ”
By Ryan Johnston, includes “Researchers at the University of Michigan on Wednesday announced plans to help Flint, Michigan, develop new open-data standards to improve the city’s financial transparency. … The city plans to base the system on a software standard called Extensive Business Reporting Language — or XBRL — which is designed to make it easy to compile and share financial data.”
To encourage the publication of transparent and accurate government financial information, Truth in Accounting has created a transparency score for financial reporting by the states.
Editorial, includes “This has been a banner year for school choice across much of the U.S., and Michigan is the latest state to advance the cause. The GOP-led Legislature last week passed choice legislation that will force Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to choose between students and teachers unions. … The bills meet growing demand fueled by parental frustration with public schools that has increased during the pandemic. …”
By Beth LeBlanc (The Detroit News), includes “The federal government warned Michigan in May 2020 to avoid adopting overly lenient qualifications for pandemic unemployment assistance as it carried out the federal jobless aid program. … The state didn't send letters asking people to recertify under different qualifications until late June — more than a year after the Department of Labor initially warned about the loose criteria.”
PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Truth in Accounting's twelfth annual Financial State of the States report, a nationwide analysis of the most recent state government financial information.
By Koby Levin, includes “… Those are just a few features of a $1.4 billion investment in Michigan’s child care system. The new state budget, which draws heavily on federal COVID aid dollars, is expected to have an immediate impact on families with young children, and to close funding gaps in the early education system that have destabilized the early childhood workforce and left wide swathes of the state in ‘child care deserts.”
By Drew Lindsay, includes “ It began with a highly unusual offer from two business executives — who both have billions in wealth — to bankroll a distressed city government."
Op-ed by David Guenther, includes “… At best, the American Rescue Plan Act was unnecessary. A worse and more likely scenario is that larding hundreds of billions of federally borrowed dollars onto state governments will enable ill-conceived spending that costs taxpayers twice — once for higher federal debt payments and again for ongoing spending paid for initially with one-time funds. ”
By Jenni Bergal, includes “Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has proposed allocating hundreds of millions of dollars to replace or repair it and more than 119 other local bridges in serious or critical condition, using one-time money coming from a state surplus. She and leaders in other states who have wound up with unexpected budget surpluses despite the COVID-19 pandemic are planning to use a chunk of the money to tackle long infrastructure to-do lists.”
By Ron Fonger, includes “Mayor Sheldon Neeley’s proposed $71-million budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 is balanced, doesn’t forecast layoffs and includes $33 million in pension contributions. But after using a one-time boost from an internal service fund, the budget also forecasts a shrinking fund balance …”
By Scott Rasmussen, includes “… On a percentage basis, the biggest increases were found in Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.”
With more shutdowns looming and a vaccine months away from wide distribution, governors across the country are pleading for more help from Washington ahead of what is shaping up to be a bleak winter.
Beaumont Health paid its chief executive a $2.6 million bonus weeks before the state'slargest hospital system turned to the federal government for a financial bailout.
Michigan’s new unemployment claims rose more than 50% over the previous week. The news arrived on the same day the U.S. Commerce Department announced third-quarter numbers reflecting a 33.1% growth in gross domestic product (GDP).
The state of Michigan has long incubated financial stress among its localities. Though not the state’s intention, limits on local governments’ ability to raise revenues, coupled with reduced state aid, have decimated local budgets.