LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Congress may have spent weeks deadlocked over the shutdown, but when Congress finally cut a deal, Michigan emerged with more than $60 million in federal funding to show for it.
The biggest prize: $20 million for upgrades at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, preparing the Macomb County installation for incoming F-15EX fighter jets. Lawmakers had sought far more—$200 million from Sens. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Township) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly), and $90 million from Rep. John James (R-Shelby Township). However, the approved funding jump-starts runway and infrastructure changes needed for the new squadron.
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The rest of the state’s haul, about $40 million, comes through the Department of Agriculture portion of the spending package, aimed mostly at small-town and rural needs.
Other notable earmarks include:
- $3.9M for water infrastructure in Vicksburg
- $3M to modernize shared Michigan State University–federal agriculture greenhouses
- $3.5M to overhaul Alpena Community College’s natural resources center
- $2.25M for Armada Township’s fire station expansion
- $2M for the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan’s new distribution facility
- $2M for a new Mason County Road Commission facility
- $1.225M for child-care expansions, including Hemlock Public Schools and Central Montcalm Public Schools
- About $1.15M total for new emergency vehicles, including fire trucks for Berkley and Putnam Township and a plow truck for Ontonagon.
Michigan lawmakers from both parties pushed for these earmarks, even though the state’s Democratic delegation ultimately voted against the broader shutdown package.
Funding for additional Michigan projects may come early next year, depending on how Congress handles the remaining full-year agency budgets.