Advocacy News – Jan. 27, 2023
The House and Senate sent an appropriations supplemental bill to the Governor’s desk Thursday, Jan. 26. The budget bill includes $146.3 million to close the books for fiscal year 2021-2022 and then added a $946.2 million in new spending for current fiscal year 2022-2023, with the bulk of the appropriations allocated to the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) for solutions to housing, workforce and economic development.
The budget bill (Senate Bill 7) was originally introduced to close the books on last fiscal year and didn’t contain appropriations for the current fiscal year.
The bill contains funding for several projects in Fiscal Year 2022-23 that could impact the business community and their employees, including:
- $50 million in federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding for Missing Middle Housing and $150 million GF dedicated to Housing Gap Financing. The bill also expresses legislative intent that the Michigan Legislature and State Budget Office will work on creating an affordable housing tax credit gap financing program for the purpose of reducing the housing cost burden of residents and increasing the supply of and preserving existing affordable housing.
- $15 million in ARP dollars for “removal of workforce barriers.” The bill requires LEO to allocate funding for the employment, reemployment and removal of barriers that prevent at-risk individuals from entering and staying in the workforce; authorizes funding to be used to support transportation services, child care, clothing and work tools.
- $25 million for statewide apprenticeship expansion.
- $75 million ARP dollars for the Small Business Smart Zones and Business Accelerators. The bill language requires the Michigan Strategic Fund to administer support programs for small businesses that were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic; authorizes grants to be awarded for small business smart zones, business accelerators, and other entrepreneurial activities to local and nonprofit economic development organizations and additional investment entities; requires report; designates unexpended funds as a work project appropriation.
- $150 million for a deposit in the state’s Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) fund, which was created in 2021 to position Michigan to win transformational economic development projects.
- $200 million for an economic development project in the Upper Peninsula and specifically the Escanaba region.
Please contact Becky Burtka, director of member engagement and legislative affairs with questions at bburtka@michamber.com.