From the Associated Press — A conservative economic-policy group will get a $22,500 reward for blowing the whistle on a Michigan teachers union and its insurance arm. The Michigan Education Association and the Michigan Education Special Services Association got $12.5 million in government-backed loans during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy filed a lawsuit, arguing they weren’t eligible for the money. The union and its insurance affiliate repaid the loans with interest, a year before the lawsuit was filed. The government had paid the lender a processing fee for the loans. The MEA and MESSA have agreed to pay $215,000 to the government, according to documents released Monday. The union says the lawsuit was a “politically motivated attack.”
