Michigan Legislature Passes $465M Coronavirus Relief Bill

(December 21, 2020 11:33 AM) The $465 million Michigan stimulus plan with funding for coronavirus relief for affected businesses and workers passed the House this morning during a rare Christmas-week session day.

The House concurred with the Senate by a vote of 97-5.  The Senate passed the bill late on Friday evening.

The bill includes $465.07 million in total spending, with $443.3 million from the General Fund and $21.7 million in federal dollars.

Today, Governor Gretchen Whitmer released the following statement after both chambers of the Michigan Legislature passed the bill: 

“I proposed this stimulus plan to the legislature in November because I know how much our families, frontline workers, and small businesses need relief as we head into the winter. This bipartisan relief bill will provide families and businesses the support they need to stay afloat as we continue working to distribute the safe and effective vaccine and eradicate COVID-19 once and for all. There is still more work to do to beat this virus and grow our economy. All Michiganders have a personal responsibility to do their part and mask up, practice safe social distancing, and avoid indoor gatherings where the virus can easily spread from person to person. And I urge everyone who is still doing last-minute holiday shopping to buy local to support your favorite businesses and restaurants.” 

The largest appropriation in the bill is the $220 million to cover the temporary extension of unemployment benefits from 20 weeks to 26 weeks from January 1, 2021, through April 1, 2021.

Another $55 million is for small business grants, targeting businesses most impacted by the pandemic. There’s also funding to provide grants of up to $1,650 to individuals employed in facilities affected by the gathering restrictions if they are currently furloughed or laid off or had hours reduced because of orders from the state.

Direct care workers would see the continuation of the $2 pay increase for an additional two months under the bill and care and recovery centers would see an additional $200 per day payment for two additional months as well.

Another $51.3 million would be directed toward COVID-19 vaccine strategies. Of this, $48.7 million would be for establishing health system capacity to manage the administering of the COVID-19 vaccine to residents and $2.7 million for administrative costs to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Another $22.55 million would be used for coronavirus response strategies including the testing of vulnerable populations and another $15 million would be for purchasing testing supplies and equipment for COVID testing and vaccination efforts.

A total of $10 million would be provided for temporary hospital staffing assistance.

Gongwer News Service contributed to this report.