Governor Whitmer Still Has Not Signed Michigan’s Covid-19 Relief Bill
Did you know that there is a Michigan Covid-19 $465 million dollar relief bill that passed nearly unanimously in Michigan’s House and Senate on December 21st and Governor Whitmer has still not signed it?
That would be Senate Bill 748.
What is interesting is just last Sunday Whitmer complained, on national television, that President Trump had not signed the $2.3 trillion dollar omnibus bill that contained approximately $900 billion dollars of Covid-19 relief. Last Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union show Whitmer stated:
“The president needs to sign it and if he really believes we should get up to $2,000, which I have believed for a long time, he should get back to Washington D.C. and get that piece done as well”
Sounds like a whole lot of hypocritical to me, wonder why the CNN host did not ask her about Michigan’s Covid-19 relief bill sitting on her desk? Michigan’s bill has been on Whitmer’s desk since December 22nd. Where are all the fine reporters in Michigan hounding Whitmer about her lack of caring for the Michigan residents and businesses she has put on the unemployment line, ran out of business or running out of business?
Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clark Lake, on Twitter wrote:
Congratulations to MLive when they asked Whitmer’s spokesperson, Tiffany Brown, what is she waiting for. Brown told MLive:
“the bill “was not fully negotiated” with the Whitmer administration prior to its approval in the Republican-led legislature”
Ms. Brown went on to say Governor Whitmer will sign:
“the supplemental in the very near future”
I am sure everyone who is hurting in Michigan feels warm inside when she stated that she will sign the bill in the “near future”. I am also sure their timetable can be accommodated to suit Whitmer’s.
By the way, has anyone but myself been asking why Whitmer refused to help the residents of Michigan she has put on the unemployment line and ran out of business until December of this year?
The first obvious questions would be; what has Whitmer “fully negotiated” with the Republican-led legislature in the past when she wrote her Executive Orders?
The second question would be; the bill passed nearly unanimously, does she not trust the Democrats in Michigan’s House and Senate?
Ms. Brown went on to tell MLive:
“Because of that, our team is going through a careful legal and policy review…This is a standard procedure for bills that haven’t been negotiated”
According to the MLive article some of the items in the bill include:
- $45 million for individual workers laid off, furloughed or working reduced hours due to the latest COVID-19 restrictions instituted last month. Under the bill, the Department of Treasury will set up and distribute the funds, and eligible individuals who apply are eligible for up to $1,650 in state aid
- $220 million to the state’s unemployment compensation fund, which lawmakers say would go towards funding the state’s COVID-19 unemployment expansions through the end of March 2021
- $63.5 million to fund grants for small businesses currently shuttered due to COVID-19 restrictions
- $79.1 million to expand testing and fund vaccine distribution
- $3.5 million specifically earmarked for live music and entertainment venues that have been closed since March
- $115.3 million would be directed to hospitals and nursing homes to address health care worker shortages, including $26.7 million to pay for a $2-per-hour wage increase for direct care workers through February 28, 2021
Governor Whitmer, perhaps you should stop jumping from one TV program to the next and workout whatever your problems are with Michigan’s Covid-19 relief bill and sign it.
You demanded that President Trump sign the Federal Omnibus spending bill that contained Covid-19 relief in it. Can the people of Michigan demand that you sign our Michigan Covid-19 relief bill instead of you sitting on it as Michigan figuratively burned?
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