Whitmer Signs Covid Relief Bill, But Not Without Changes
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a Michigan Covid Relief Bill Tuesday, but using her line-item veto prerogative, took some items out of it, including a tax break for businesses related to unemployment benefits.
"To be very clear, this will not impact individual workers. General Fund dollars have got to be used to fund essential services, like vaccines and PPE, not to give tax breaks to big businesses right now," Whitmer said at her press briefing, quoted by the Detroit Free-Press.
According to the Free-Press, the bill still has millions of dollars for businesses and workers who have been affected by her pandemic orders, including up to $20,000 in grant funds for individual businesses and $1,650 grants for workers who lost their job or wages due to the pandemic.
Her explanation for the line-item vetoes was ""this (bill) went too far, because it is really important that we use every precious General Fund dollar we can to help get through the crisis."
"What happened in that supplemental doesn't have anything to do with solving the public health crisis and helping people who are struggling right now. And that's why it was not a wise use of precious little General Fund money that we need to build out our apparatus for vaccine administration. It was not negotiated, it was thrown in there. And it was disappointing...it does not jeopardize a single effort or resource that is dedicated toward helping our unemployed, and anyone who tells you that just isn't being honest about what that really was all about." - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at her Tuesday press briefing.
The governor quoted a letter from a restaurant owner praising the bill for the help she will receive, but according to some analysts, the vetoed funds had some bi-partisan support.