Lawmakers, Gov. Whitmer in standoff over disbursing COVID-19 funds and revising pandemic powers
(The Center Square) – House Appropriations Chair Rep. Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, sent a letter to State Budget Director Dave Massaron in which Albert offered a trade by March 12: distribution of COVID-19 dollars in exchange for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer negotiating limitations of the epidemic powers she’s held for a year.
For the past year, the GOP-led legislature and the first-term Democrat have fought over the statewide response to COVID-19.
On Tuesday, Whitmer vetoed more than $650 million from the GOP’s COVID-19 relief plan, including $405 million to give tax relief to small businesses shuttered by her orders.
Whitmer also vetoed $150 million deposited into the unemployment fund, $87 million for private schools, and $10 million for parents whose kids enroll in summer school, claiming the items weren’t negotiated with her.
That money doesn’t count HB 4049, which included $840.7 million of school district funding tied to the state Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) being prohibited from closing schools to in-person instruction or banning school sports under a COVID-19 epidemic order.
“The Governor’s refusal to allow the people of Michigan a voice in the decisions that affect their daily lives is simply unacceptable,” Albert wrote in a letter shared with The Center Square on Wednesday. “The same reasons you argue in your letter for why our state would be best served by a collaborative, joint approach to funding decisions apply with even greater force to the public policy decisions surrounding this pandemic.”
The fate of another $840 million of education funding tied to a bill Whitmer vetoed is also uncertain.
The legislation sought to transfer authority from state government to local health departments required to adhere to specific COVID-19 data benchmarks before halting in-person instruction or banning school sports.
The same day, the House again passed the vetoed $650 million in federal COVID-19 relief, including $405 million for small business tax and fee relief, $150 million for the unemployment compensation fund, $10 million to help parents get their kids to school, and $87 million for private school reimbursements.
Michigan still has roughly $2 billion unallocated of federal money from the December stimulus package.
The letter follows as the U.S. House passed and sent to President Joe Biden a $1.9 trillion stimulus package that will gift Michigan $10.3 billion.
Neither Whitmer’s office nor top lawmakers have responded to how they plan to spend the additional windfall.
“Governor Whitmer’s unfathomable decision to veto COVID relief funding for Michigan schools and summer school programs was a direct attack on local students and families,” Great Lakes Education Project Executive Director Beth DeShone said in a statement released Thursday morning. “Republicans and Democrats in the state House stood together last night to put Michigan kids first. GLEP is proud of their commitment to Michigan students, and grateful they’re willing to do what the Governor won’t – focus on the needs of struggling learners.”
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