Governor Gretchen Whitmer is calling out the GOP led state legislature for not taking action to help Michiganders who are out of work.
Last week, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that many of Whitmer's executive orders issued during the pandemic weren’t valid because the state legislature hadn’t voted to extend a state of emergency. Among the orders invalidated was one that extended unemployment benefits.
Whitmer says it’s time for action:
“The first order of business that they should undertake when they return is to codify my executive order on unemployment, because without swift action, hundreds of thousands of people in our state will lose their unemployment benefits if the legislature doesn't act in the next few days,” said Whitmer.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey told Crain’s Detroit Business that he hadn’t given unemployment benefits much thought because -quote- “I just kind of rolled my eyes when it was done under an executive order, and I haven’t paid that much close attention to it.”