Biden: Michigan to get $2B more stimulus

KALAMAZOO, Mich., June 12 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden told Michigan officials Friday the state will get another $2 billion to help it over the hump of auto industry problems.

Biden spoke at a high school in Kalamazoo, the Detroit Free Press reported. The school is next to I-94, which is being rebuilt with federal stimulus money and the audience included highway construction workers.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm hugged the vice president after he announced the federal government will issue $2 billion in economic stimulus bonds for Michigan.

The state was already scheduled to get $7 billion in federal stimulus aid.

Much of the money will go to the counties around Detroit, Biden said, among the most economically distressed in the state because of the collapse of manufacturing.

"This is a time of transitions, new beginnings," Biden said.