Fiscal Cliff Threatens Fragile State Economies

With the presidential election now history, attention has turned to negotiations to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, a package of automatic tax hikes and program cuts agreed to last year by President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders.

Those provisions, including nearly $500 million in tax increases for fiscal 2013, are set to kick in after Jan. 1, unless the president and Republican leaders can reach a new agreement on reducing the federal budget deficit.

In this video, Michigan Budget Director John Nixon talks about the fiscal cliff’s potential impact on state programs and, more importantly, on state economies that are just now rebounding from years of recession.

Nixon, who this year added nearly $50 million into Michigan’s annual state budget for technology upgrades, says failure to reach a sensible, long-term deal for reducing the federal deficit could cause years of economic turmoil.