Lansing, MI — At least 85,000 nursing home staff, home health aides and other direct care workers will lose a $2 hourly pandemic pay raise next week if the Republican-led Legislature and Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer don't enact COVID-19 relief aid. Disability advocates are sounding the alarm as lawmakers return to session. Some caregivers first got the wage hike last April through an executive order. The increase was extended in July to nursing home workers and others under a bipartisan law. Whitmer wants to keep the $2 increase intact through September 2022, noting the workforce is plagued by low wages and high turnover.