The Michigan House of Representatives and Appropriations Committee Chair Thomas Albert today approved their latest plan to help struggling job providers and their employees dealing with the financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The House approved a $184.6 million relief plan to help restaurants, movie theaters, fitness centers and other businesses hurt most by the pandemic. The plan also helps health care professionals and other occupational license holders who weren’t allowed to work for part of the pandemic, while also making more resources available for community development investments helping small businesses.

“There’s still no ‘business as usual’ in Michigan – thousands of job providers are fighting for survival, and thousands of people still aren’t working or earning at the level they were before the pandemic began,” Albert said. “This all started with the governor’s shutdown orders in 2020. Now the problems are runaway inflation, supply and labor shortages, and customers changing their buying patterns because of the pandemic.

“Thousands of small businesses across Michigan have closed their doors forever in the past two years,” Albert said. “We’ll lose even more if we don’t quickly approve this assistance. This is exactly what federal COVID relief dollars should be used for – let’s work together to put these resources to work for Michigan families and communities.”

Highlights of the House plan include:

Helping restaurants. An estimated 3,000 have closed permanently since the pandemic began, and those still in business are chronically short-staffed. The plan provides funding to refund certain state fees charged to restaurants even though they were shut down by the governor’s orders, and adds $10 million to help restaurants train and certify staff to safely serve alcohol in accordance with certification guidelines.

Supporting tourism and entertainment. A $30 million grant will help local convention and visitor bureaus critical to local economies. Movie theaters, which were just beginning to revive before the latest COVID surge crippled attendance again, would receive $18 million. Live entertainment venues also would receive additional support.

Health and fitness centers. Roughly a third of the centers in Michigan have closed permanently after state-ordered shutdowns of six months earlier in the pandemic.  A $53 million hardship grant program would benefit an industry dedicated to improving the health of Michigan residents.

Occupational fee relief. The state of Michigan requires licenses and charges fees to workers in several occupations – from health care to cosmetology to construction. People in many of these occupations were not allowed to work for portions of the pandemic, so the House plan would refund or prorate state fees accordingly.

“Thousands of hard-working Michiganders were required to pay their occupational license fees for the full year, but were not allowed to work for the full year,” Albert said. “We’ve got to do right for them and all the others who were forced out of their jobs and made financial sacrifices during the governor-ordered shutdowns.”

The House plan also provides $25 million for community development financial institutions to assist revitalization efforts and help small businesses.

House Bill 5524 advances to the Senate for consideration. The COVID relief would come in addition to a $409 million small business relief plan signed into law in December 2021. Gov. Whitmer had vetoed previous business relief efforts during the pandemic.

PDF Link

###