Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law Wednesday the nearly $70 billion Fiscal Year 2022 budget, while axing Republicans’ cuts to abortion access and noting that budget language restricting COVID-19 mandates is unenforceable.
COVID-19
Congress in March authorized $19.5 billion in aid for cities and towns with fewer than 50,000 residents, including very small jurisdictions such as Bingham. Lawmakers wanted to help every town cover the cost of fighting a pandemic and recovering from last year’s recession. But in some small, rural or conservative towns, local leaders are refusing the cash. They say they don’t need it, and in some cases, don’t feel comfortable accepting it.
As of Sept. 16, more than 5.5 million children have been infected by the virus since the start of the pandemic. That represents more than 15% of the total cases, according to Dr. Lee Beers, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. More than 21,000 children have been hospitalized, a rate that’s 2.5 to 3 times higher than flu-related hospitalizations, Beers testified.
With just over a week before the start of Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, both chambers of the Legislature finished on Wednesday passing remaining spending plans worth about $53 billion. They now head to the desk of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has said she’ll sign them.
The GOP-led Legislature took a key step Tuesday toward completing the nearly $70 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 budget, carving out money for criminal justice reform, education and a number of Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s programs for workers.
As all Michigan schools have begun 2021-22 classes, the state is reporting school and sports-related COVID-19 outbreaks. As of Monday, 213 pre-kindergarten-12 schools and nine universities — Alma College, Grand Valley State University, Central Michigan University, Northwood University, Adrian College, Northern Michigan University, University of Michigan, and Eastern Michigan University — are reporting new or ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks.
State lawmakers should increase public funding for children and families to address the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly two-thirds of Michiganders said in a recent statewide poll from the Skillman Foundation and Michigan’s Children
With only 18 days left to finalize the rest of the state budget before the new Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 begins, leaders tell the Advance they’re confident there will be a negotiated budget in time to avoid a government shutdown — but there is some concern about higher education funding due to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Three Rivers Pastor James Smith writes, “God does not just work through miracle cures, but through science, medicine, and above all love. It may be that what is being tested right now is not our faith, but our love. Do we have the love to get a shot that we might not think we need but that will help us not get someone else sick? Do we have the love to come together as a country and as the world to defeat a common enemy to humanity?”
School board members in Michigan — volunteers who are typically parents or former educators — are facing unprecedented pressure and scrutiny as a third school year dawns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Michigan parents are split on whether or not students should be required to get vaccinated or wear a mask this school year, according to a study done by the K-12 Alliance of Michigan, a Lansing-based advocacy group.
David Hecker writes, “A series of anti-worker and anti-educator policies passed during former Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration is holding them back and diminishing their voices.”
District Judge Paul Maloney blocked Western Michigan University on Tuesday from imposing a COVID-19 vaccine requirement on four female soccer players who claimed the requirements infringed on their constitutional religious rights.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) reported Wednesday that a total of 951,192 Michiganders have tested positive for COVID-19 and 20,347 have died from the virus — an additional 4,494 cases and 90 deaths since Monday
Stimulus payments, unemployment, and other forms of governmental assistance helped ease the burden of a worldwide pandemic, according to experts.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of the Biden administration’s last-ditch effort to extend a federal ban on evictions has put hundreds of thousands of American renters at risk of losing their housing — and is increasing pressure on states and localities to get rental assistance dollars distributed faster
A new study shows the State of Michigan had 29 armed demonstrations in the last 18 months, ranking fifth in the nation. The report was released Tuesday by the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund and the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). According to Roudabeh Kishi, ACLED’s director of research and innovation, over 3% of Michigan’s protests are armed, 1% above the national average, which is 2%.
Several recent studies have found the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted the financial stability of LGBTQ+ individuals across the United States.