By Scott Pohl, WKAR News
LANSING, MI – The state of Michigan has crossed the $10 billion mark in federal stimulus money.
According to Leslee Fritz, director of the Michigan Economic Recovery Office, federal stimulus money has helped Michigan offset the budget deficit. Money has also gone to local governments, and to non-profits.
"Unemployment benefits, food assistance, Medicaid to provide health care. Some of the dollars are targeted specifically at infrastructure spending, job creation, long-term economic investment. So, there's a variety of different types of spending," Fritz says.
About $6 billion has gone to the state, some of it sent on to local governments and agencies. Another $2.7 billion has gone to schools and education programs, and about $1.7 billion directly to people in the form of income tax cuts and unemployment compensation.