Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, is one of the most controversial political figures in America. Although the corporate mainstream media doesn't provide a lot of coverage about her, because it would be negative, it was shown in a federal court of law that Whitmer helped to instigate a plot against herself that resulted in long prison sentences for people working with the FBI. It's all a big mess, and her re-election bid illustrated that, as things were a lot more difficult for her in solid-blue Michigan than anyone thought. Instead of reimposing harsher COVID restrictions, as most believed she would, Whitmer has loosened her grip on the state post-election and has decided to tackle low-income housing. This isn't something a lot of governors do, whether in red or blue states. Most pass the buck to the federal government to act on the state's behalf, so at least it can be said that Whitmer is attempting something at the state level.

What she's attempting is a grant program aimed at helping to build low-income housing and apartments in six separate Michigan counties. In total, these grants will go toward building 145 structures, which in theory could house a few hundred people. It's not a massive program, but it's something coming from the state level, and that hasn't been happening in America very often since COVID hit in 2020. The program here is part of the Missing Middle program, aimed at helping to keep middle class families in that bracket, while also uplifting poor people. It's administered by the Michigan State House Development Authority, or MSHDA.

Part of the grants is also said to be going to low-income individuals and families in order to help them afford these homes. Whether this is in the form of extra grants, lowered prices or rebates, that part remains unclear to date.

While it is a state program, it's still receiving 100% of its funding from the CARES Act passed almost three years ago. Some questions have arisen as to the existence of this money, with some people wanting to know why this money hasn't been spent in over two years, when Michigan is one of the most economically devastated states in America. Detroit, for instance, has some of the worst housing and lowest values not only in America but in the entire western hemisphere. This even includes some Eastern Bloc and Baltic nations. Hungary and Romania, for instance, have more stable housing than Detroit, and they're second-world countries. Though to Whitmer's credit, she is using remaining available funds to offer grants for the construction of new homes, and to help people afford these homes.

This round of grants is reportedly just the first. The initial program has a budget of around $50 million, and a second round of grants is slated to be rolled out in the spring of 2023. These grants are also specifically going to nonprofit construction companies, which means that the homes are very likely to be built only in poor minority districts and nowhere else.
 

Government Grants are Rare Birds Indeed

When Whitmer does something like this and offers grants with the federal government's money, in such a modest amount (relative to typical government spending), it really makes a lot of Americans scratch their heads. Normal people ask, "Why can't other states do similar things, and a lot more of them?" It's a very valid question. After all, $50 million for a state that received billions of dollars in free federal money is a mere drop in the bucket. However, these sorts of grants are incredibly rare in 2022, and will likely not be seen at all in 2023. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that most states seem to just squander the money.

Whether this lost money is from fraud, misappropriation, accounting errors, etc, no one can really say. The federal government doesn't allow itself to be audited. The feds are the ones who gave this money to the states, and so any real look into where that money went would have to involve the federal government. The government is not going to allow official investigations to be conducted. Even if they were, the government would be the authority investigating the government, and like always, the government would find that nothing actually went wrong. That's just how America works these days.

Hopefully people who need housing in Michigan can get it after these grants, and hopefully more states start to offer the same opportunities for citizens.