Congressman John Moolenaar introduced legislation to prevent elected officials from receiving premium pay as eligible workers through the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund that was signed into law in March as part of President Biden's $2 trillion spending bill.

“I am introducing legislation that will protect taxpayers and stop what happened in Shiawassee County from happening anywhere else in the country," said Congressman Moolenaar. "When Democrats in Congress passed their partisan $2 trillion spending plan they never put in rules that would stop local officials from giving that money to themselves. My legislation will put those rules in place and stop something like this from happening across the country."

The bill stems from an incident last month when the Shiawassee County Board of Commissioners voted to pay themselves bonuses ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 using money the county received from the federal government back in March.

The legislation prohibits elected public officials with the authority to designate who is eligible to receive premium pay from being designated as eligible workers.