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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday extended Michigan’s coronavirus emergency declaration through July 16, enabling her to keep intact certain business closures, longer unemployment benefits and other changes after she previously lifted a stay-at-home order.
The Democratic governor — who has been gradually reopening the state — hopes to let gyms, movie theaters and bowling alleys restart by July 4. They currently are operating only in northern Michigan.
The state of emergency, first declared more than three months ago, is the underpinning for a slew of orders. They include a pause on residential evictions, caps on crowd sizes, an additional six weeks of jobless payments, requirements to wear masks and socially distance, delayed tax deadlines and new workplace infection-control rules.
“Now is not the time to get complacent,” Whitmer said in a statement. “We must continue to stay vigilant and flexible in order to reduce the chance of a second wave.”
She said nearly every state in the country is maintaining a state of emergency to cope with COVID-19. Though the Republican-led Legislature earlier refused to extend the emergency and sued Whitmer, a judge said she can lengthen it on her own under a 1945 law.
GOP lawmakers have appealed the ruling. Separately, a group with ties to Republicans is in the early stages of a ballot drive to place before the Legislature veto-proof legislation to repeal the 1945 law. (AP)
