LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan lawmakers who have finished passing the state budget will next turn to allocating an unprecedented amount of federal COVID-19 rescue funding — money that largely is flexible and can be spent however the state decides.
For months, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has been proposing ways to allot $6.5 billion in discretionary funds approved by Congress and President Joe Biden.
About $5.7 billion remains after budget negotiations and the enactment of two spending bills in July.
In recent talks, legislators also left unspent $1.8 billion in nondiscretionary federal coronavirus aid and $3 billion in state revenues.
