U.S. House Republicans Voted to Strip $37.2 Billion of Federal Funding from Michigan To Give Corporations and the Ultra-Wealthy Another Tax Cut
LANSING, MICHIGAN – The current federal budget fight that is nearing a possible June 1st deadline comes on the heels of Congressional Republicans’ recent vote to cut up to $37.2 billion in federal funding for Michigan in order to fund more tax cuts for the richest and big corporations. It was the latest example of the Republican Party’s “tax cuts for the rich, service cuts for the rest” policy that President Biden and congressional Democrats are resisting in the current negotiations over raising the federal debt limit and avoiding financial disaster. New analysis by Americans for Tax Fairness details exactly what full passage of the Republican budget would cost Michigan families.
“Budgets reflect the priorities and values of our elected officials. Americans of every demographic and political stripe are desperate for investments in their communities and families, while House Republicans continue to engage in debt ceiling theatrics as if people’s health, safety, and prosperity aren’t on the line,” said MoReno Taylor II, Fund Michigan’s Future executive director. “We have so much at stake and face such grave challenges, yet House Republicans continually demonstrate that they only care about enriching their already wealthy donors.”
“Republicans have continued to perpetuate the same cycle: give huge tax cuts to the richest and big corporations that run up the debt and then turn around and demand that the rest of us pay for these tax handouts by slashing services that families depend on,” said David Kass, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness. “Michigan families should not be made to suffer in order to line the pockets of billionaires, but that is exactly what Congressional Republicans are advocating.”
The Republican-passed budget would require at least a 22% cut in federally funded public services next year. This would reduce federal aid to Michigan by $2.3 billion in 2024, and up to $37.2 billion over the next decade. The Republican budget will kill 784,000 jobs nationwide, according to Moody’s, which would mean an estimated 22,300 job losses in Michigan, based on the state’s proportion of national employment.
The cut in federal aid to Michigan was part of the total $3.6 trillion reduction in federal investments over 10 years voted by the House GOP in April as the price of lifting the debt ceiling so America can pay its bills and forestall a global economic meltdown. Even as they’re cutting services by $3.6 trillion, House Republicans want to make permanent expired and expiring tax cuts from their 2017 tax law that mostly benefit the wealthy and will cost an almost identical $3.5 trillion over 10 years.
While countless Michigander families will suffer from these extensive cuts, the big winners are the handful of millionaires and billionaires that benefit disproportionately from Republican tax cuts. In Michigan the 2017 Trump Tax cuts gave the top 1% of households in the state each a $52,200 annual tax cut, while the bottom 60% of Michigander families got only $380. Now Republicans are proposing giving millionaires in Michigan another yearly $27,600 tax cut and paying for it by stripping Michigan of vital federal programs that benefit millions of families.
How Republicans will Harm Michigan Children:
The Republican budget would mean nationally 200,000 children would lose access to the vital Head Start program and 180,000 children would lose access to childcare programs. In Michigan alone it would eliminate 7,400 head start slots and 4,100 childcare slots. The McCarthy budget would also mean that 51,000 Michigander mothers and children would lose nutritional support through the WIC program. Children’s primary education would also suffer cuts as the Republican plan would strip at least $115 million of funding from the Michigan school system, removing up to 3,400 teachers from state classrooms.
How Republicans will Harm Michigan Infrastructure:
The Republicans would cut federal transportation funding to Michigan by $264 million. There would be 120 fewer railroad inspections in Michigan. Additionally, access to infrastructure employment would suffer as 20,800 people would lose access to Michigan job training programs.
How Republicans will Harm Michigander Healthcare:
The Republican budget makes one of the largest rollbacks to publicly funded healthcare by inserting costly red-tape requirements to the Medicaid program and terminating federal funding to any states that do not comply. This jeopardizes healthcare coverage for up to 21 million Americans, including 930,000 Michiganders who are currently enrolled in Medicaid. Additionally these cuts would affect healthcare access to our veterans, by cutting 81,000 jobs across the VA, which would lead to 187,700 fewer hospital visits for Michigan veterans. And while Republicans claim their budget cuts won’t impact Michigan’s 2.4 million seniors on Social Security and Medicare, it would close as many as 240 Social Security field offices across the country, leading to higher waiting times for benefits.
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