LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Legislature and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reached a $4.7 billion deal Wednesday night to improve bridges, roads, and clean drinking water.
“It has a lot of wins for a lot of parts of the state. And we still have money on the books. We still have over $2 billion on the books that's not spent or appropriated," said State Rep. Sarah Lightner.
The majority of the money comes from the federal government and about $3.1 billion from federal COVID-19 relief dollars. The deal is a compromise between the Republican controlled legislature and Gov. Whitmer.
“We can always find something in a budget bill that we're not going to like. But at the end of the day, I think that this budget bill has a lot of wins for all communities in our state, for all of us, not just us Republicans or not just Democrats," Lightner said.
A full rundown of the plan isn’t available just yet but Lightner outlined where different amounts of this money will go.
About $2 billion will go towards safe drinking water, removing P-FAS or forever chemicals, and removing lead pipes. About $380 million will go towards improving state and local roads and bridges and another $250 million to expand broadband.
"This was a huge, huge undertaking," said State Rep. Mary Whiteford. "That's why it's so important for us to slow things down and make sure that we get input from around the state. The legislative process, the House, the Senate, the stakeholders, people who are really affected, the people of our state, and then ultimately the governor's office, because the governor has the final say on whatever we do and only working together can we accomplish this."
A signature from the governor is expected as soon as today before the legislature breaks for a spring break recess.
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