LANSING, Mich. — Governor Gretchen Whitmer held a press conference Wednesday, providing an update on the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The press conference came shortly after state officials announced there were 40,399 cases of coronavirus in the state of Michigan with 3,670 deaths.
She started off by confirming that residential and commercial construction will pick back up next week on May 7. She said it is reopening next Thursday as opposed to earlier in the week in order to give construction companies time to get adjusted to getting back to work. The governor also hinted that elective surgeries might soon be allowed. She didn't give a specific time of when they would be allowed, however.
The governor then discussed paths of opportunity for frontline workers through free education. The program, which she is calling "Futures for Frontliners" is the first of its kind in the United States.
The program will allow people without college degrees who work in hospitals, nursing homes, grocery stores, child care, delivery services and more to benefit from free college opportunities like technical certificates and associate degrees.
The governor said this program is a way to thank these workers for their sacrifices during the coronavirus crisis. She said the program was inspired by the G-I bill from World War II.
"Historically, when Americans put their lives on the line to defend the rest of us from a foreign enemy, we have shown our gratitude by giving them educational opportunities to improve their lives. Our enemy in this instance is a virus, but our frontline workers are just as heroic, which is why it is important for us to extend some gratitude and some opportunity once we are beyond this moment," Gov. Whitmer said.
The governor said the program will also help the state of Michigan reach the goal of increasing the number of working-age adults with a technical certificate or degree from 45% to 60% by 2030. She said she looks forward to working on enacting the proposal with the bipartisan legislative coalition that helped pass Reconnect last month, which is a program that offers adults over 25 without college degrees, tuition-free access to community college.
Additionally, Gov. Whitmer said she is expanding the state's Workshare Program to allow employers to reduce employee hours to receive weekly unemployment insurance benefits as well as the additional $600 Pandemic Unemployment Assistance weekly benefit.
She said both benefits will be funded through federal dollars. Her office said through July, the program can act as supplemental pay for critical infrastructure worker by allowing them to collect the extra per week.
The governor said she also called on leaders in Congress to support Senator Gary Peters' Heroes Fund to provide hazard pay for frontline workers putting their lives on the line to ensure access to life-saving care, food and other critical services during the pandemic.
Gov. Whitmer said it is currently estimated that 3 million essential workers are on the job in the state of Michigan. She said the Heroes Fund proposal, which has support from Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, would provide these workers with an additional $13 per hour, up to $25,000, with an additional potential recruitment incentive of up to $15,000 for essential medical workers.
“No Michigander should have to worry about how to feed their family or pay rent during a crisis. And no Michigander should be scared to go to work,” said Governor Whitmer. “From the beginning, my team and I have been working around the clock to solve those problems for working families. And I will continue to fight for our working people long after this crisis is over.”
During the press conference, the governor was asked about her emergency powers. She said her emergency powers do not need a vote from the legislature, stressing that the coronavirus pandemic was not a political matter, but a public health crisis.
However, the governor is still asking the legislature to approve the 28-day extension for the state of emergency, but many Republicans argue the state is not moving fast enough.
"Republicans in the legislature want to negotiate opening up sectors of the economy. They are acting as though we are in the middle of a political problem. This is not a political problem we have. This is a public heatlh crisis. This is a global pandemic," said Gov. Whitmer.
The governor's current state of emergency expires Thursday, April 30.
The governor also spent time talking about the toll the stay-home order is taking on people across the state, during the press conference.
"I know that it's hard. I know that people are stressed out. That people are feeling squirrely about being home so much with their family. I know people are worried about getting a job so that they can pay their bills, or whether or not their small business is gonna make it. I have those same fears. But we can't make those decisions based on feelings and fear. We have to go with the facts and the science. Lives are depending on this," she said.
The governor said numbers are plateauing for the most part and health officials are taking a look at certain parts of the western half of the state where the number of COVID-19 cases are beginning to increase.
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