House adopts budget substitute to aid Northern Michigan recovery after historic ice storm

LANSING — The Michigan House on Wednesday advanced and passed House Bill 4328, the fiscal-year appropriation measure that includes funding to work alongside anticipated federal disaster-relief for Northern Michigan counties devastated by a recent historic ice storm.

Representative Fairbairn, sponsor of the bill, urged members to support a floor substitute (H-1) adopted on the floor that frames state general-fund assistance to 12 northern counties to remove debris, repair infrastructure, and support recovery work. Fairbairn said the storm coated trees, power lines, broadcast antennas, and other infrastructure in thick ice that caused weeks-long outages and damage across a broad region.

A series of floor amendments seeking targeted additions failed. Representative Schneider offered an amendment that would have appropriated $6 million to reimburse emergency medical services providers owed payments for responses contracted through Wellpath, a former corrections-healthcare contractor; the clerk recorded the amendment as not adopted. Representative Mensah offered an amendment to replace $56 million of federal disaster recovery funds that representatives said had been delayed at the federal level; that amendment also was not adopted. After floor debate and the adoption of the sponsor’s substitute, the House proceeded to a roll-call vote and approved HB 4328.

The final roll call on the bill showed 107 aye votes and 1 nay (recorded by the clerk); the House ordered immediate effect.

Discussion vs. decision

Debate covered recovery needs, the speed of state assistance, and whether to use state dollars to backfill payments or federal shortfalls. The sponsor and several members emphasized the urgent needs of residents and local governments still clearing debris, while amendment proponents argued for additional, targeted relief to specific providers and for restoring delayed federal funds.

Clarifying details

- Sponsor’s request: Fairbairn described the event as a “once in a generation” ice storm affecting 12 counties in Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula and stressed immediate municipal and homeowner needs. - Failed amendment A (Schneider): proposed $6,000,000 to make whole EMS providers owed payments tied to Wellpath contracts; sponsor and the chamber did not adopt it on the floor. - Failed amendment B (Mensah): proposed replacing $56,000,000 of federal disaster recovery funds that had not yet arrived; not adopted. - Substitute H-1 adopted on the floor replaced the originally filed bill per the clerk’s announcement prior to third reading.

Why it matters

HB 4328 allocates state general-fund resources and creates a funding framework intended to work in tandem with federal disaster aid to expedite recovery efforts in counties still facing widespread property, infrastructure and service outages. Whether state funds will bridge shortfalls or be supplemented by delayed federal dollars was a central point of partisan floor debate.

Where this came from in the record

The bill was placed on second reading and moved through a floor amendment process; the clerk recorded roll-call tallies and the sponsor’s debate remarks and the failed amendments are recorded in the floor transcript.

Ending note

The House passed the appropriations measure with immediate effect; the transcript does not record final Senate action or the specific line-item text; follow-up reporting should consult the enrolled bill and the governor’s action for final funding details and implementation guidance.