House GOP plan threatens to withhold school funds -- unless Whitmer gives up pandemic power

(Detroit Free Press) Michigan House Republicans unveiled their own COVID-19 recovery plan on Wednesday, using the proposal to blast Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and threaten to withhold billions in federal funds unless the administration gives up pandemic powers.

Specifically, the House wants the governor and state health department to give up the authority to ban in-person school or sports in response to a health emergency, transferring that power to local health departments. Although Whitmer and the state health department issued orders through authority granted to the executive by previous legislatures, lawmakers continue to try and grab that power back from the governor's office.

“I have reviewed the governor’s budget request and it is off the mark by a wide margin,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Thomas Albert, R-Lowell, said in a news release. ...................(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/27/whitmer-school-funds-covid-michigan/4274515001/