Legislature sends $842M spending bill for COVID testing, airports and more to Whitmer

A long-delayed $842.6 million spending bill using federal stimulus money for COVID-19 testing — as well as wide-ranging items like mental health programs, airport projects and snowmobile trail and maintenance — is heading to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s desk after a marathon Tuesday session.

On what was expected to be the last day of action in the House and Senate for the year, the chambers voted on House Bill 4398 sponsored by Rep. Greg VanWoerkom (R-Norton Shores). The House voted 94-9, followed by a 35-1 vote in the Senate. 

Whitmer, House Appropriations Chair Thomas Albert (R-Lowell), Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Jim Stamas (R-Midland) and State Budget Director Chris Harkins praised the bill’s passage in a joint statement. 

“Today, legislative leaders came together to put Michiganders first and make another monumental investment in Michigan’s families, communities, and small businesses,” said  Whitmer. “For months, we have been working together with the legislature and we have been negotiating together in good faith, finding a collaborative way to effectively spend the federal dollars sent to Michigan by the American Rescue Plan. Today, we took another big step forward in finding common ground and agreement on how to spend some of those federal resources, including resources to help kids safe and learning in school, protect seniors in nursing homes, and get vaccines out the door even faster.”

Albert said that the bill will help to further expand positive initiatives that have been going on in the state, and that the bill will do so while “being prudent” in regards to the state’s finances. 

“We are coming together and doing what must be done for our state right now, while also building positive momentum for important initiatives moving forward,” Albert said.

The no votes in the House were all Republicans: Reps. Steve Carra of Three Rivers, John Reilly of Oakland Township, Steve Johnson of Wayland, Sue Allor of Wolverine, Diana Farrington of Utica, Ryan Berman of Commerce Township, Michele Hoitenga of Manton, Matt Maddock of Milford and Luke Meerman of Coopersville. On the Senate side, Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) was the lone no vote.

The state is currently awash in cash — quite a contrast from the early days of the COVID pandemic in 2020 when huge budget deficits loomed. There is about $8.5 billion in federal aid in addition to a $2.4 billion state budget surplus that lawmakers can spend. So far, $5.8 billion of stimulus funds awarded to the state through the American Rescue Plan are still able to be used. 

Whitmer had previously called on the Michigan Legislature to allocate $800 million in federal aid to go toward COVID-19 relief and response. She also recently asked for about $300 million in funds to be spent on COVID-19 testing initiatives in Michigan schools. 

Attorney General Dana Nessel on Tuesday weighed in, saying she hoped that “hero pay” for essential workers would be included to “properly acknowledge the additional costs and risks our essential employees have faced in order to keep Michigan running.”

“Michigan’s frontline workers have made great sacrifices throughout this pandemic and deserve added relief from the billions of dollars made available by our federal partners to help the state and its residents recover,” Nessel said. 

The House on Tuesday also passed a $1 billion bill utilizing federal dollars for various COVID-19 treatments, to help health care employees and boost COVID-19 testing initiatives around the state. 

House Bill 5523, introduced by state Rep. Julie Calley (R-Portland), passed 98-4, with Carra, Maddock, Reilly and Rep. Cynthia A. Johnson (D-Detroit) voting against the bill. The bill passed through the Appropriations Committee earlier in the day with no adopted amendments. 

However, the Senate still has to take action and that’s not expected until next year. 

The bill would appropriate federal funds to go toward COVID-19 treatments, recruiting and retaining health care workers, and boost COVID-19 testing programs in schools and around the state. HB 5523 initially had a $1.2 billion price tag, but it shrank as $300 million was cut to $150 million for epidemiology and lab capacity school safety. Instead, lawmakers added $150 million for that to the supplemental on Whitmer’s desk.

The bill would appropriate $367 million to expand testing programs across the state. An additional $300 million will go to rapid testing for schools. 

In lieu of ongoing health care worker shortages, about $300 million in the bill will be allocated to recruit and retain health care workers in Michigan. 

Around $134 million will also go to ramping up the distribution of monoclonal antibody treatments and other programs to help mitigate the virus. Another $109 million will create eight testing and treatment sites across Michigan. About $25 million will go to purchasing monoclonal antibodies and $90 million will be allocated to expanding vaccination initiatives. 

Michigan House Minority Leader Donna Lasinski (D-Scio Twp.) said in a press release that she was “proud to finally be able to vote” for the bill that she believes will help Michiganders. 

“As our hospitals are filled to capacity, health care staff are pushed to the breaking point and people go without live-saving care because beds are occupied by COVID patients, it has never been more urgent to bring these taxpayer dollars back home to Michigan and out into the communities where they can help treat and mitigate this disease,” Lasinski said.