By DAVID EGGERT Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is proposing $300 million in water spending to help local utilities address elevated lead levels, plan for pipe replacement and connect users of contaminated wells to the municipal supply.

The governor said Thursday that the funding will expand her $500 million MI Clean Water Plan, some of which has been authorized since it was unveiled more than a year ago.

The new funds, which would come from U.S. pandemic relief dollars, will need to be approved by the Republican-led Legislature.

She says there's a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to use the federal dollars to "make lasting investments in our water infrastructure."