As her scandals pile up, Governor Whitmer is so desperate to cling to her administration’s executive powers that she vetoed $1.5 billion in COVID relief funding for schools, small businesses, and their employees who have been devastated by her shut down policies.
March 9, 2021
Governor Gretchen Whitmer vetoed $1.5 billion today in COVID relief funding intended for schools, small business payroll, and reimbursements for parents who want to send their children to summer school to help with learning loss due to school shutdowns.
The Detroit News reports that Whitmer did sign the Republican legislature’s bills totaling $2.5 billion that includes “$283 million in federal emergency rental assistance, a $2.25 per hour wage increase for direct care workers, $555 million in testing and tracing funds and $110 million for vaccine administration dollars.”
Following Whitmer’s veto, the Michigan Senate GOP tweeted that the veto “that would have helped small Michigan businesses struggling to stay afloat passed the Senate by a 34-1 vote.”
Brian Calley, the former Lt. Governor and current president of the Small Business Association of Michigan, who also has worked directly with Whitmer on vaccines and small business relief said, “Today’s veto sends a message that the state is not serious about the survival of small businesses,” the Detroit Free Press reported.
Several state Republicans, including State Senator Aric Nesbitt have called for a veto override for the funds.
As her scandals pile up, Governor Whitmer is so desperate to cling to her administration’s executive powers that she vetoed $1.5 billion in COVID relief funding for schools, small businesses, and their employees who have been devasted by her shut down policies. – Tori Sachs, executive director of Michigan Rising Action