LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan House and Senate voted to extend Governor Gretchen Whitmer's State of Emergency through April 30.
Both chambers voted by voice, denying Governor Gretchen Whitmer's 70-day emergency declaration request, deciding instead to approve a 23-day extension.
"Though the Governor requested we extend the state of emergency until the end of June we thought that was unnecessary because we're learning so much more about this virus on a daily basis and that's why we decided to extend the state of emergency until the end of April so that we can continue monitoring and evaluating the situation," said House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R- Levering).
The April 30th date matches social distancing guidelines set by President Trump.
Democrats say they wanted a 70-day extension as a safer option so they would not have to come back into session at the capitol if it needs to extended again.
Lawmakers will likely have to come back at the end of April, early May to reassess the extension at a time when the Governor says the state is likely to be at a climax with the coronavirus pandemic.
"We have no reason to come back at the end of this month certainly things could be much much worse and we might have a harder time getting a quorum. We need to give the governor all the tools she needs to protect Michigan's people and unfortunately we didn't fully do that today," said Sen. Curtis Hertel (D-East Lansing).
Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich (D-Flint) released the following statement regarding the Senate vote:
“The coronavirus waits for no one, and that’s why Gov. Whitmer must be equipped with the full authority to respond to this pandemic quickly. We tried to extend the state of emergency for the full 70 days as requested, but at the end of the day this shortened timeframe is what was in front of us for a vote. I wish the extension was longer, but we will continue to keep moving forward and doing our jobs just like millions of Americans are being asked to do.”
Seventy-eight representatives and twenty senators showed up to session to vote in-person Tuesday.
Lawmakers and members of the public were screened when they entered the Capitol, then had a temperature check.
Masks were worn in the chambers.
"I felt perfectly safe in the environment that we were in," said Sen. Tom Barrett (R- Potterville). "A number of members were asked to stay home either because their districts were in an area that was a lot more infected than other areas or they may have been older or more at risk."
Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist presided wearing an 'everybody vs. COVID-19' t-shirt.
But the decision to hold an in-person vote was not embraced by all lawmakers.
"The legislature shouldn't be convening unless it's necessary to protect the public health and when I realized that the meeting was to take action on an executive order that the Governor has already rescinded, I decided that I wasn't gonna play partisan politics and I wasn't going to participate in something that was going to put people's lives at risk," said Rep. Julie Brixie (D- Meridian Twp.).
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