October 22nd, 20200LANSING — Governor Whitmer signed two bills on Thursday that protect workers from retaliation from businesses if they get sick from or are exposed to COVID-19, and protects businesses from COVID-19 related liability.
A trio of Michigan House bills (House Bills 6030-6032) say employers are required to allow workers who are exposed...
October 21st, 20200LANSING — Governor Whitmer signed Senate Bills 886 and 991, which expand unemployment benefits for all Michiganders.
The bipartisan bills Whitmer signed will extend unemployment benefits for Michiganders who have lost work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic from 20 to 26 weeks until the end of the year. Both bills were sponsored...
October 14th, 20200LANSING — Three weeks out from the Nov. 3 election, nearly 1 million citizens have already returned absentee ballots, and more than 2.8 million have requested them, according to the Michigan Department of State (MDOS). A breakdown by jurisdiction of this week’s absentee ballot data is available here.
“Michigan citizens can be...
October 8th, 20200LANSING — On Thursday, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced charges against seven Michiganders for plotting to kidnap Governor Whitmer.
“I’d like to announce that my office has filed additional charges in addition to the charges already announced by the U.S. Attorney’s office,” she said. “I’d like to announce the...
October 6th, 20200LANSING — A new bill allow clerks in certain cities or townships to begin processing absent voter (AV) ballots prior to election day.
Governor Whitmer signed Michigan Senate Bill 757 alongside Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Tuesday. The bill also requires clerks to now notify voters of any reason their vote won’t be counted...
October 5th, 20200LANSING — Michigan main health authority has stepped into the ring, now that the state’s Supreme Court has deemed all of Governor Whitmer’s COVID-19 related executive orders since the April extension of the state of emergency unconstitutional.
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Director Robert Gordon has...
October 5th, 20200LANSING — Governor Whitmer’s administration is asking for clarification from the Michigan Supreme Court after it decided last Friday that her extensions of the state of emergency and subsequent executive orders concerning COVID-19 were unconstitutional.
Whitmer said previously that legally her orders would stay in effect for at...
October 3rd, 20200LANSING - After months of legal back and forth, the Michigan Supreme Court has finally deemed Governor Whitmer's continued state of emergency in Michigan unconstitutional.
The drama began with Whitmer leveraging decades-old laws to give herself emergency powers and bypass the legislature when extending her original state of emergency...
October 1st, 20200LANSING — The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) announced on Thursday that the unemployment insurance benefits period has been lengthened under the Federal Extended Benefits (EB) program.
The EB program pays unemployment benefits during periods of high unemployment to workers who have otherwise exhausted entitlement to...
September 29th, 20200LANSING — Governor Whitmer is extending her state of emergency order for Michigan until October 27. Under the state of emergency, Whitmer will maintain executive decision-making powers as it relates to public health during the COVID-19 crisis.
Whitmer also announced on Wednesday the extension of four executive orders: One allowing...
September 24th, 20200LANSING — The state’s newly-formed Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission convened for its inaugural meetings over Zoom last Thursday and Friday.
The 13 randomly selected commissioners sat for agenda and orientation discussions. Those orientation materials, YouTube links of the meetings and a list of the selected...
September 16th, 20200LANSING — Governor Whitmer took time to discuss the upcoming Nov. 3 general elections at her weekly COVID-19 live address from Lansing on Wednesday. Joining her were the state’s health chief, Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, and Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
Benson appeared confident in the state’s ability to get through a...
September 10th, 20200
LANSING — The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) announced on Thursday that it has closed on an $800 million bond issue that marks the first installment in Governor Whitmer’s $3.5 billion Rebuilding Michigan program.
The bonds will cover the cost of rebuilding some of Michigan’s most highly traveled...
September 10th, 20200LANSING — The Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) announced it has started processing payments for Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) for eligible Michiganders. Due to the large volume of payments to be processed, the UIA says workers will begin receiving LWA payments over the next week to 10 days.
Michigan applied to the Federal...
August 20th, 20200
LANSING — On Thursday, Governor Whitmer signed the bipartisan “Return to Learn” bills she and legislative leaders agreed upon on last Friday.
The package of bills has new, more flexible instructional requirements for school districts for the 2020-2021 school year. It also provides significant financial security to...
August 20th, 20200FLINT — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced on Thursday that a preliminary agreement in the Flint water-related civil lawsuits has been reached, offering a state of Michigan-backed settlement of $600 million to parties who claim they were affected by the Flint water crisis.
The settlement has been agreed to by state...
August 17th, 20200LANSING — Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced on Monday the final selection of 13 commissioners for the state’s first ever Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. The commissioners were randomly selected by an independent accounting firm, Rehman LLC, from a final pool of 180...
July 30th, 20200DEARBORN — The Dearborn School Board of Education will be conducting a special study session on August 6 at 1 p.m. to discuss the three possible options recommended by the district's Reopen Committee for a return to school.
The meeting will be held at the Administrative Service Center, 18700 Audette. Indoor gatherings in Michigan...
July 28th, 20200LANSING — Governor Whitmer is set to give an update on COVID-19 at 2 p.m., Tuesday afternoon, as cases continue to rise in the state. Whitmer will be joined by Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun.
Monday saw 488 confirmed cases with five deaths, bringing up the total...
July 18th, 20200DEARBORN — Governor Whitmer’s signed a new mask order on Friday to clarify how certain people did not have to wear masks in side of a store or public indoor space. This includes people who cannot medically tolerate a mask. The clarification may actually add to the confusion of dealing with customers that businesses face during...
July 17th, 20200
LANSING — Governor Whitmer signed an additional order that clarifies businesses may not assume an unmasked customer cannot medically tolerate a face covering, though they can accept a customer’s verbal explanation that they fall within a specified exception and do not have to.
It also requires public safety officers to wear a...
July 14th, 20200LANSING — In an another indication this month that Lansing grows concerned over the rates and spread of COVID-19 in Michigan, Governor Whitmer announced on Wednesday she will be extending both the state of emergency and the state of disaster.
“Over the past three weeks … our progress in suppressing the pandemic has...
July 10th, 20200LANSING — At a Thursday live address, Governor Whitmer warned that some residents may not understand the severity of the situation as the state saw mask-less holiday weekend crowds and a sure uptick in cases over the week.
“Over the past week, we have seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases in Michigan and over the holiday weekend, we...
July 7th, 20200WAYNE COUNTY — Wayne County and many other communities across Michigan will receive grants for small businesses that are trying to reopen and recover from impacts of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
$50 million in grants to be awarded to Wayne County small businesses
Wayne County will allocate up to $50 million in CARES Act...
July 7th, 20200LANSING — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and other state attorneys general are taking legal action against a rule issued by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that they say unfairly diverts federal pandemic relief funds to private schools.
Nessel and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra are leading a coalition...
July 1st, 20200LANSING — In an act to curb upticks in new cases across Michigan, and perhaps reprimand careless bar goers, Governor Whitmer announced on Wednesday that she will be closing down indoor bar services through most of lower Michigan.
Bars will be able to serve customers outdoors and will be able to offer cocktails-to-go. The Upper...
July 1st, 20200
LANSING — On Wednesday, Governor Whitmer signed Senate Bills 876-878, which makes into law her previous executive orders, further extending the renewal dates for driver’s licenses, CDLs, state ID cards and vehicle registrations. Those with driver’s licenses or vehicle registrations expiring after March 1 have until Sept. 30 to...
June 25th, 20200LANSING — On Wednesday, 200 semifinalists for Michigan’s first Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission were randomly selected in a live broadcasted event by the Michigan Department of State (MDOS).
The random selection was performed by Rehmann LLC, an independent accounting firm hired through a public bidding process to...