State Lawmakers Still Have Billions In Federal COVID Money To Spend

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money-safe-1-33

Michigan lawmakers who have finished passing the state budget will next turn to allocating an unprecedented amount of federal COVID-19 rescue funding – money that largely is flexible and can be spent however the state decides. Mary Whiteford of Casco Township chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee for the Department of Health and Human Services. She told us about her priorities.

“I really put a lot of focus on children, seniors so they can have options to be able to have their days at home and not in facilities,” Whiteford said.

For months, Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been proposing ways to allot $6.5 billion in discretionary funds approved by Congress and President Joe Biden. About $5.7 billion remains after budget negotiations and the enactment of two spending bills in July. In recent talks, legislators also left unspent $1.8 billion in nondiscretionary federal coronavirus aid and $3 billion in state revenues.