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Whitmer signs budget bill that doles out COVID, flood relief

Glasses and a pen sitting on top of some 20 dollar bills
iStockphoto.com
Most of the funds would go toward helping families with food and rental assistance.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a budget bill Wednesday to help families facing economic adversity due to COVID-19.

This supplemental budget will provide aid to families that lost jobs or income due to the COVID. Whitmer says the money will help with the costs of food, rent and utilities.

“And there are few needs that are more pressing than housing and hunger,” she said.

There’s also money to help local emergency management agencies that responded to the Midland flood.

Whitmer praised the bipartisan cooperation that led to the agreement on this emergency spending bill and expressed hope that it might pave the way for a larger bargain on the 2022 state budget.

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987. His journalism background includes stints with UPI, The Elizabeth (NJ) Daily Journal, The (Pontiac, MI) Oakland Press, and WJR. He is also a lifelong public radio listener.