Vetoed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that appropriates $2 billion in COVID-19 related funds.

Highlights:

• Defines "direct care workers" as a registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, competency-evaluated nursing assistant, and respiratory therapist (Sec. 251-3).

• Appropriates $150,000,000 for COVID-19 direct care worker hazard pay adjustment (Sec. 102).

• Appropriates $184,942,400 for Federal COVID epidemiology and laboratory capacity (Sec. 102).

• Appropriates $110,239,800 for Federal COVID immunization and vaccine grant reserve fund (Sec. 102).

• Alleges the legislature intends that a hiring freeze is imposed on the state classified civil service. State departments and agencies are prohibited from hiring any new full-time state classified civil service employees and prohibited from filing any vacant state classified civil service positions (Sec. 204).

• Establishes the direct care wage increase is provided to direct care workers employed by the department of health and human services, its contractors, and its subcontractors who received a $2.00 per hour state-funded wage increase beginning in April 2020 (Sec. 251-2).

• Specifies any payment enhancement above the hourly rate in effect on March 1, 2020, shall be of no effect in determining an employee's average compensation (Sec. 251-9).

• Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to work with the Department of Education to notify registered and approved nonpublic schools of the availability of grant funds for COVID-19 testing, and to set up a grant process to distribute testing funds to eligible nonpublic schools (Sec. 252.a).

• Requires a school district, public school academy, or nonpublic school to provide at least 20% of all instruction in person to receive funding. This may be measured by hours or days but must result in the average of at least 1 day of instruction per school week being delivered in person for all students (Sec. 252.c).

• Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to report to the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, the Senate and House Fiscal Agencies, the Senate and House Policy Offices, and the State Budget Office on the formula, or other detailed methodology, used to distribute vaccines to each local health department and each enrolled provider (Sec. 255).

Full Bill Text