YPSILANTI, MI — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer stood alongside Ypsilanti homeowners and community leaders at an Ypsilanti senior center Monday to sign Senate Bill 27, a wide-ranging, $384.7 million supplemental budget measure aimed largely at relief funding to help communities rebound from the pandemic and recover from flooding that hit southeast Michigan last month.
The bill divvies up federal COVID-19 recovery funds and state general funds to bring additional resources to emergency and disaster mitigation, hospitals, nursing homes, child development, care program providers and local police. About $10 million will go toward disaster relief related to the flooding that hit the region in June.
“I know people are exhausted and stressed and I know that for cleaning the basement, only to set it back up and to see it flood again and again... is just beyond frustrating,” Whitmer said.
Two Ypsilanti homeowners coping with significant property damage due to area floods, Eric Mohamed and Frankie Jones, spoke about their community’s need for assistance Monday.
Jones’ basement, which she said looked like a war zone following the flooding on June 25, is looking better now, but “we still have a long ways to go.”
Jones teared up during her comments Monday, saying she lost a lot as a result of the flood, from stored food to her washer and dryer, hot water tank and furnace.
Jones said she has been unable to get help from sanitation companies because they were overbooked.
“So we’re stuck with a basement that’s collecting mold,” she said.
About one month after facing a sewer backup problem, Mohamed said he’s amassed over $35,000 in restoration costs and other expenses following the flooding.
“I want to express hope that myself and basically everyone on my block right now, my neighbors that I know and that I don’t know, are able to get meaningful personal assistance, because you need to have a lot of money to absorb something like this,” Mohamed said.
About 95% of the $367.7 million is from federal COVID-19 relief funding that was authorized through the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act to support those affected by the economic fallout caused by the pandemic. The bill also appropriates $17 million from the state’s general fund.
Whitmer thanked U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell and Rashida Tlaib as well as several state lawmakers who were in attendance Monday.
“The bill that I’m signing today is the result of Democrats and Republicans coming together in good faith to get things done. We’re joined by a number of legislators, many of whom are (here),” Whitmer said.
The measure also helps boost pay and capacity for child care providers, and supports nursing homes, which are struggling with declining enrollment.
“Investments in child care are what really allow parents to go back to work with peace of mind that their children are going to be okay,” Whitmer said.
The bill includes $105 million of federal funds to provide a 40% rate increase to child development and care program providers; $160 million in federal COVID-19 relief for hospitals to help cover increased costs and reduced revenue related to the COVID-19 pandemic; $100 million for nursing facilities that have experienced a 5% or greater decline in the nursing facility’s average daily census; $2.7 million in federal aid to support the Secondary Road Patrol Program, which provides grants to county sheriff’s departments for the patrol of secondary roads; $10 million in state funds to assist areas of the state with restoration costs and other expenses resulting from weather-related events that occurred in June 2021.
And $7 million in state funds will also go to the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act Fund to support statutorily required payments to those deemed to have been wrongfully imprisoned and eligible for compensation from the state.
“For months now, we’ve known the WICA fund was running into the red as the Legislature negotiated budget bills,” said Attorney General Dana Nessel in a statement. “While I am encouraged to see $7 million go back into the fund with this bill signing, I urge our legislators to understand the priority this fund must have for pending and future claims.
“When the Act was signed in 2016, it was a promise to provide relief to those who spent years of their lives in prison for crimes they did not commit. Assisting these individuals as they restart their lives is one way to right that wrong. We owe the wrongfully imprisoned more than just compensation – we owe them support and respect. That cannot be achieved without a proper appropriation to the WICA Fund.”
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