Gov. Gretchen Whitmer indicated Monday that she will not sign parts of the Republican-led Legislature’s $4.2 billion pandemic relief bill that are tied to limitations on her executive powers.
One part of the Republican plan that passed the Legislature last week ties $840 million in federal school aid to a measure that would shift authority on closing schools and sporting events from the state to local health departments. Another ties $370 million in coronavirus testing funds to a proposal that would limit state public health orders to 28 days.
She called the power-limiting provisions in the relief plan “nonsensical” during a March 8 interview with MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle.
“The Trump administration signed relief dollars before the change in administration in Washington, D.C.,” Whitmer said. “We’ve got $5 billion that’s been allocated to Michigan, and the Legislature, which is Republican-controlled, is trying to hold those dollars back in trying to push me to relinquish executive powers I’ve used to save lives.
“They know that’s never going to happen, and it’s just really sad, because we’ve got to deploy these dollars to get our kids safely back in school, to help small businesses that have been struggling, to help people that have been struggling, to build out our vaccine rollout... For our Legislature to play this dangerous game with resources we desperately need is really disappointing.”
The three House bills that account for the $4.2 billion in relief spending are on Whitmer’s desk. Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Sen. Lana Theis, R-Brighton, which would limit MDHHS orders to 28 days, still needs approval in the House. Whitmer vetoed a similar bill last session.
The Whitmer administration is in the process of reviewing the relief plan, said spokesman Bobby Leedy over the weekend.
Rep. Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, fired back at Whitmer’s comment on “nonsensical” proposals by calling her COVID-19 policies just that.
“What is truly ‘nonsensical’ is how Gov. Whitmer has handled much of the state’s response during this pandemic,” he said in a statement, pointing to confidentiality agreements with former MDHHS director Robert Gordon, her strategy with nursing homes and more. “The governor’s pandemic measures are not based on science – they are calculated to maintain her self-appointed power. The resulting economic devastation is crippling our state. It is time for her to change course and listen to what the people of Michigan are saying – enough is enough.”
Should Whitmer veto only the funding tied to those proposals, more than $1.2 billion in federal funds would be removed from the pandemic relief plan. If she signs the rest of the plan, there would be $3 billion in mostly federal funds allocated to vaccination efforts, returning schools to in-person learning, food and rental assistance and relief for small businesses.
“This plan responsibly and effectively puts billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 funding to use meeting our state’s most critical needs — getting more people the lifesaving vaccines, increasing testing and supporting our struggling families and job providers,” Senate Appropriations Chair Jim Stamas, R-Midland, said in a statement last week.
Whitmer earlier this year issued her own $5.6 billion proposal for spending the funds, and Democrats have largely adhered to support of that plan. Whitmer’s plan contained some elements that Senate and House Republicans have argued aren’t immediately pertinent to coping with the pandemic, such as $225 million in grants for job creation initiatives and $5 million to boost security infrastructure at the Michigan State Capitol.
The Republican plan never had buy-in from Whitmer.
Read more from MLive:
COVID-19 aid, confidentiality agreements, guns and LGBT rights: The week in Michigan politics
Whitmer vetoes bills that would limit public health orders and repeal governor’s emergency powers