Gov. Whitmer says she’ll sign Michigan COVID-19 relief bill ‘in very near future’
LANSING, MI – The first week of December, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer requested $400 million from the state legislature to fight COVID-19.
One week ago on Dec. 21, the Michigan House and Senate approved a plan that surpassed that request, slating $465 million to cover unemployment benefits, small business loans, vaccine distribution and more.
After a week, Whitmer has yet to ink her signature on Senate Bill 748, which passed nearly unanimously in both Republican-controlled chambers.
Read more: Read the $465M coronavirus response plan Michigan lawmakers are sending to Whitmer
Why the wait? Her office states the bill “was not fully negotiated” with the Whitmer administration prior to its approval in the Republican-led legislature.
“Because of that, our team is going through a careful legal and policy review,” Whitmer spokeswoman Tiffany Brown told MLive. “This is a standard procedure for bills that haven’t been negotiated.”
Whitmer will sign “the supplemental in the very near future,” Brown said. This comes a day after Whitmer criticized President Donald Trump on CNN for his delay in signing the federal stimulus bill, as Trump wanted to increase direct payments to most Americans from $600 to $2,000.
“The president needs to sign it and if he really believes we should get up to $2,000, which I have believed for a long time, he should get back to Washington D.C. and get that piece done as well,” Whitmer said to CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash on Sunday, Dec. 27.
Congress sent the bill to Trump’s desk on Dec. 22, which he signed at his private club in Florida on Sunday. With her office’s review of the relief bill entering its second week, state Republican leaders are pushing for an immediate signature.
“A bipartisan COVID-19 relief bill has been sitting on (Whitmer’s) desk since Dec. 22,” wrote Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, on Twitter. “Every day that goes by, 20 restaurants close their doors for good and more Michiganders out of work due to her orders suffer. This bill should have been signed the moment she received it.”
A message was left with Speaker of the House Rep. Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, and Speaker-elect Rep. Jason Wentworth, R-Clare, for additional comment.
Whitmer’s opposition to parts of the relief plan stands in contrast to her initial statement last week, as she praised how it aimed to provide “families and businesses the support they need to stay afloat.”
Highlights of the spending plan include:
- $45 million for individual workers laid off, furloughed or working reduced hours due to the latest COVID-19 restrictions instituted last month. Under the bill, the Department of Treasury will set up and distribute the funds, and eligible individuals who apply are eligible for up to $1,650 in state aid
- $220 million to the state’s unemployment compensation fund, which lawmakers say would go towards funding the state’s COVID-19 unemployment expansions through the end of March 2021
- $63.5 million to fund grants for small businesses currently shuttered due to COVID-19 restrictions
- $79.1 million to expand testing and fund vaccine distribution
- $3.5 million specifically earmarked for live music and entertainment venues that have been closed since March
- $115.3 million would be directed to hospitals and nursing homes to address health care worker shortages, including $26.7 million to pay for a $2-per-hour wage increase for direct care workers through February 28, 2021
It’s unclear what parts of the relief bill, if any, Whitmer opposes. Messages were left with her and her office for clarification.
She has expressed “skepticism” over bills that would give tax exemptions to Michigan-based grocer Meijer for the purchase and retention of automation equipment, according to the Detroit Free Press. However, none of the three Senate bills linked to those tax breaks are tie-barred or directly related to the COVID-19 supplemental.
Some House representatives didn’t think the relief went far enough to fund their specific interests. Rep. Rachel Hood, D-Grand Rapids, wanted more COVID-19 wastewater testing that Whitmer requested, as well as funding to mitigate spread in the state’s corrections facilities and migrant labor communities. Rep. Tommy Brann, R-Wyoming, said the relief won’t do enough to keep the restaurant industry afloat.
A few Senate Democrats showed concern over a provision in the relief bill allowing nonradioactive hazardous materials to be routed over the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit. An amendment offered by Rep. Alex Garza, D-Taylor, to remove that provision was voted down. Rep. Abdullah Hammoud, D-Dearborn, said the decision to include the language in a COVID-19 aid bill was “shameful.”
The Whitmer administration did not say if these concerns were the reason for the delay in signing.
Read more from MLive:
General apologizes for COVID-19 vaccine distribution day after Whitmer blasts Trump administration
Whitmer administration asks Michigan legislature for $400 million to fund COVID-19 response
Michigan House votes to repeal 1945 emergency law used by Whitmer to issue coronavirus orders
