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News Site Claims Whitmer Defunding Police, But $633M In State Cuts To Be Replaced By Federal Dollars

CARES Act money to replace some state funding

A news site called Great Lakes News posted at 1 p.m. on July 22, “Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has defunded the Michigan State Police and the prisons.”

The post had been shared 7.6k times in the first three hours it was live. It linked to the governor’s 155th executive order. That executive order does call for $633 million in state budget cuts, including $113 million in spending on the Michigan State Police and $386 million in the corrections system.

Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey said Wednesday, however, that the state money cut by the executive order will be replaced by federal dollars received through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.

Shirkey said by identifying specific COVID-19 related costs, the governor and state Legislature were able to replace the cuts in the state budget with federal money.

“They pretty much wash out,” Shirkey said. “There’s no layoffs, no salary reductions.”

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.