Lansing, MI — The Republican-controlled Michigan House has approved a nearly $3.6 billion coronavirus relief package. About $2.1 billion for schools would be withheld unless Democratic  Gov. Gretchen Whitmer cedes the state’s authority to prohibit in-person instruction or sports to local health officials. The bills would distribute federal COVID-19 aid that was enacted by then-President Donald Trump and Congress for vaccine distribution and other priorities. House Republicans tied education aid, however, to the governor’s unlikely signing of a bill that would let county health departments — not the state health department — close schools to face-to-face classes and bar sporting events.