House committee advances $75 million supplemental for Northern Michigan disaster relief; amendment fails

House Bill 4,328, a supplemental appropriation of $75,000,000 from the general fund to the Michigan State Police to administer a storm and natural disaster relief program for Northern Michigan, was reported out of the House Appropriations Committee with a recommendation after an amendment to tie the funding to Senate Bill 55 was defeated.

The bill, sponsored on the floor by Representative Fairbairn, would require the Michigan State Police to allocate the $75 million to local units of government to assist residents, businesses and communities that have suffered significant financial hardship from recent storm damage. Robin Riscu of House Fiscal told the committee the funding is intended for a range of disaster response and recovery purposes, including state matching funds to secure federal emergency assistance, emergency actions to protect life and property (including shelter and supplies), labor assistance and temporary employment, cleanup and recovery, support for dislocated workers, energy assistance to prevent utility shutoffs, and repair or replacement of disaster‑damaged infrastructure, facilities and eligible private nonprofit organizations.

The bill also directs that any remaining funds be used, on a first‑come, first‑served basis, to address damage on land owned by the State and the Department of Natural Resources and to reimburse third‑party providers that assisted in recovery efforts, including costs for deploying emergency first responders. Language in the bill designates unexpended funding as a work project account, authorizing funds not spent in fiscal year 2025 to be carried forward until expended or until February (whichever comes first), according to the bill summary presented to the committee.

Why it matters: committee members from Northern Michigan described widespread, prolonged outages and infrastructure damage following an ice and wind storm that left many residents and critical facilities without power for days to weeks. Representative Cabot said “we still have 4,000 people in my district in schools that are closed,” and other lawmakers described thousands of downed poles, stranded linemen, hospitals and nursing homes operating without full services, and mounting cleanup needs that local governments cannot meet without outside assistance.

Discussion and committee action: Representative Farhat offered an amendment to “tie bar” or coordinate this supplemental with Senate Bill 55, which Farhat said would make an additional $50,000,000 available for communities that have requested FEMA assistance. Representative Farhat moved the amendment and the clerk called the roll. The amendment was defeated on the committee roll call (vote details recorded in the transcript but not summarized in a single tally statement). After defeating the amendment, Representative Cabot moved to report House Bill 4,328 with the recommendation that it be placed within the current fiscal year; the clerk later announced the motion to report carried with 26 yays, 0 nays and 1 pass.

Speakers and sources: committee testimony and descriptions of the storm’s effects were given by Representative Fairbairn (bill sponsor), Representative Cabot, Representative Roth, Representative Preston and others representing affected Northern Michigan districts; Robin Riscu provided the bill and fiscal summary on behalf of House Fiscal. Senator Demos (appearing by phone) described the scope and unusual nature of the damage and supported the need for federal match funding. All quotes and characterizations in this report are drawn directly from the committee transcript.

Next steps and limits: reporting the bill with recommendation advances it to the House floor or further House consideration. The bill’s text ties the $75,000,000 to State Police administration for the stated purposes; federal approvals (FEMA or other federal emergency programs) and local application processes would determine how and when federal match funds become available. The transcript notes the intent that the state request FEMA designation so that federal match (approximately 75 percent, as discussed by members) could be obtained, producing a larger recovery pool when federal funds are available.

Votes at a glance: House Appropriations Committee • Motion to amend (Representative Farhat — tie to Senate Bill 55): moved; defeated on roll call (transcript records individual votes; the committee did not announce a summarized yes/no total for the amendment in the transcript). • Motion to report House Bill 4,328 (Representative Cabot): passed, clerk announced 26 yays, 0 nays, 1 pass.

Clarifying details extracted from testimony: the supplemental request is $75,000,000 from the general fund to the Michigan State Police; Representative Fairbairn described a required 25% state match to generate a $300,000,000 total recovery plan when combined with federal funds (description from committee testimony); the bill explicitly lists permissible uses including state match for federal emergency assistance, emergency shelter and supplies, labor assistance, temporary employment, cleanup and recovery, support for dislocated workers, energy assistance, and repair or replacement of public and eligible nonprofit infrastructure; remaining funds prioritized for damage on state‑owned land and DNR land; unexpended funds are to be carried forward in a work project account until expended or until February (as stated in the fiscal language presented to the committee).

Community relevance: the bill targets Northern Michigan communities affected by recent storms and lists funding mechanisms (state match, reimbursements to third parties and first responder costs) to support households, small businesses, local governments and public facilities experiencing long‑term outages and infrastructure damage.