Governor Whitmer’s Thoughts About Virus Anniversary
Governor Gretchen Whitmer, joined by Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist, are offering some thoughts on the one-year anniversary of the first diagnosed cases of the COVID-19 virus in Michigan. Whitmer characterizes the last year as "challenging". The Governor says her orders to force Michigan residents to stay home, socially distance, and wear a mask have saved lives. The Governor might be hinting at what’s to come by saying now we are in what she calls, “the second half".
The Governor and Lt. Governor appear jointly but apart in a slick anniversary commemorative video posted to the Governor's YouTube account.
Whitmer says the new vaccines will help get the country back to normal. She’s offering no timetable, however. The Lt. Governor laments that he has lost 27 people in his life to the virus. But Gilchrist says the state can recover thanks to the directives of Governor Whitmer.
While those comments were being presented to the state, Republican legislative leaders were in the midst of communicating to the Governor’s office about her vetoes of virus-related spending bills and what needs to be done to finally begin to work together. House Appropriations Committee Chair Thomas Albert - sending a letter to Whitmer’s Budget Director saying the Republican-controlled legislature is ready to work with the Whitmer Administration, but only when the Governor is ready to jointly administer COVID controls, not continue her unilateral moves. Moves which the State Supreme Court has ruled were unconstitutional. The Governor responding by switching to state department orders as a workaround. And she so far refuses to negotiate on controls with the state’s elected legislators.