LANSING – For Michigan’s more than 10 million residents, the new federal economic stimulus package approved on Friday will mean $7 billion over the next two years for education, health care and infrastructure spending and a tax cut for working families.

H.R. 1, which passed the U.S. House on a 246-183 vote, totals $787 billion and includes a $400 tax cut for individuals and an $800 tax cut for couples.

Michigan’s congressional delegation split their votes along party lines: eight Democrats supported the measure while seven Republicans opposed it.

Overall, eight Democrats in the chamber opposed the bill, which garnered zero support from the Republican caucus even as the National Association of Manufacturers, headed by former Republican Michigan Governor John Engler, called on lawmakers to pass the bill.

The manufacturers group said it would use the roll call vote on the measure as part of gauging lawmaker’s support for the organization’s issues.

The bill now goes before the U.S. Senate, which also debated the measure throughout the day and could vote on it as early as Friday evening. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill early next week, possibly during a televised event.

Movement on the measure in Washington, D.C., comes a day after Governor Jennifer Granholm told the Legislature she intends on using $800 million of the federal stimulus to shore up part of $1.6 billion in budget deficits in the current and upcoming fiscal years.

Granholm expressed hope that some of the additional money coming Michigan’s way can be used to avoid implementing her proposal to cut the K-12 per-pupil foundation allowance by $59 and reduce funding for the state’s 15 public universities by 3 percent in the upcoming fiscal year, both of which were not received well by legislators in Lansing.

Some lawmakers have also suggested the stimulus money be used to halt Granholm’s proposal to increase taxes on non-cigarette tobacco products and liquor.

After House passage, Granholm issued a statement saying, “I applaud the Michigan members of the U.S. House of Representatives who voted in favor of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act this afternoon. This legislation means that over 100,000 jobs will be created in Michigan, that we can provide immediate help for struggling Michigan families, and that we can make the long-term investments needed to diversify our economy. Once this legislation is passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Obama, Michigan’s economy will get the jump start it needs to create jobs today and jobs tomorrow.”

On the hill, Michigan’s congressional delegation went back and forth on how the measure would stimulate a state economy facing a 10.6 percent unemployment rate and a sagging auto industry.

U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mount Clemens), who was unsuccessful in moving the bill back to conference so more support for the auto industry could be included, said she originally supported Mr. Obama’s call for a stimulus focused on infrastructure and tax cuts, but the bill before the chamber didn’t go far enough toward helping the auto industry by providing incentives for people to buy cars.

She railed against the state hit worst by the economic climate only receiving $7 billion when a high speed rail line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is receiving $8 billion under the bill (the funding would also cover a rail line between Illinois and Wisconsin).

“You have got to be kidding me,” she said during floor debate.

U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Brighton) said he also wanted to support a stimulus package, but couldn’t back the bill when it spends less than 7 percent on transportation infrastructure and 1 percent on tax cuts to small businesses.

Using a line item referenced by several of his GOP colleagues, Rogers also criticized funding for a habitat in San Francisco that officials there say will be used for mice.

“Certainly the speaker is getting her cheese, but the people of Michigan are waiting for theirs,” he said.

Rogers criticized the incentives in the bill for people to purchase plug-in vehicles, saying that will only increase people’s electricity bills.

U.S. Rep. Dave Camp (R-Midland), the ranking GOP member of the Ways and Means Committee and member of the stimulus conference committee, said the legislation was a “partisan package” that would “harm the economy.”

Camp said the results of the conference report were announced before the panel even met and that Republicans had no input in the process.

“We were frozen out. The American people were frozen out,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-Grand Rapids) issued a release stating, “The need for real economic stimulus is absolutely urgent. I have heard from many people in West Michigan who are struggling to find work, in danger of losing their homes, and having trouble making ends meet at their businesses. I certainly hope that Democrats and Republicans can come together soon to craft a more focused, meaningful stimulus package that will help Americans get on their feet right now.”

But U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-Dearborn), who this week became the longest serving member of the chamber, asked colleagues to learn a lesson from the Great Depression and not repeat the same mistakes by having the government do nothing.

“It’s not just about spending money, it’s about doing something right,” he said of the stimulus package.

U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D-Royal Oak) said the focus on job creation that started at the beginning of the debate remains intact with this bill.

Earlier in the day Levin said he talked with some union members who told him how many of them were without jobs. Levin said the nearly $850 million in infrastructure money to the state would put people back to work, and 161,000 workers would receive extensions on their unemployment benefits.

“For the minority, they acknowledge the pain but they have no prescription except tired ideology,” he said.

Along with support for health care, schools and the state, Levin said the bill is also key in providing grants for companies producing advanced battery systems and he supports the credit for people buying plug-in cars.

As the Senate debated the bill, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Detroit) said the measure would provide a tax cut to 3.9 million Michigan workers and provide a tax credit to make college more affordable for more than 120,000 Michigan families.

“This legislation represents a significant and essential step in stabilizing our economy. The infrastructure projects will create Michigan jobs, the tax provisions will help Michigan families and the investments in technology and modernization will pay dividends for years to come,” he said. “While there are major challenges before us that we must address in order to end this recession, passage of the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act will give us some urgently needed momentum.”

The senator also said he hoped the federal government would use some of its funding for Great Lakes clean up.

Earlier in the day, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke to reporters about the effect the stimulus money will have on education, singling out his hopes for improvement for the Detroit Public Schools.

Saying the district’s poor performance makes him lose sleep at night, Duncan said he hopes the Obama administration and the federal stimulus can challenge the district to move off the status quo.

He said the administration would be collaborating with all states to reform the educational system. Included in the stimulus is funding for tracking student achievement, which Duncan said should be also used to raise standards and recruit and reward successful teachers.

Asked how quickly the federal government can get money into the hands of school districts, Duncan said he hopes a timeline for that will be more clear next week.

But h