LANSING,
Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Friday that Michigan’s
stay-at-home order remains in effect through May 15 despite Republicans’
refusal to extend her underlying coronavirus emergency declaration, as
she amended it to allow construction, real estate and more outdoor work
to resume in person next week.
The
Democratic governor, who may be sued by the GOP-led Legislature,
addressed reporters the same day that President Donald Trump tweeted she
should “make a deal” with conservatives who protested her restrictions
at the Capitol a day earlier. She denounced the protest as ”disturbing,”
noting there were swastikas, Confederate flags, nooses and some people
with assault weapons who “do not represent who we are as Michiganders.”
“We’re
not in a political crisis where we should just negotiate and find some
common ground here. We’re in a public health crisis,” Whitmer said.
”We’re in the midst of a global pandemic that has already killed almost
4,000 people in our state.”
Whitmer
said she will continue listening to epidemiologists, public health
experts and business leaders — “not to pollsters and not to people with
political agendas.”
The
state health department reported nearly 1,000 additional confirmed
cases of COVID-19 and 77 more deaths, bringing the totals to more than
42,300 cases and 3,866 deaths.
Whitmer
late Thursday issued directives both proclaiming that the coronavirus
emergency continues under a 1945 law and declaring new states of
emergency and disaster under a 1976 law after lawmakers refused her
request for a 28-day extension. The declarations are the foundation of
her stay-home order and other measures to curb the spread of the virus.
Republicans,
who want more input on gradually restarting the economy and say a ban
on elective medical and dental procedures should be lifted, also voted
to authorize a lawsuit challenging her authority and actions. They
question the legality of her stay-home measure since the Legislature did
not lengthen the state of emergency.
But
Whitmer said the stay-home order rests on gubernatorial powers in the
1945 law, which does not require legislative consent nor an extension.
“If
the 1976 law supersedes the ’45 law, they would have repealed it. It
was an intentional decision to keep both of these sources of authority
for the chief executive of the state of Michigan,” she said. “It is for
times like these that that authority is really important, when lives are
on the line.”
The
later law has a provision saying it should not be construed to “limit,
modify, or abridge” a governor’s authority to proclaim an emergency
under the earlier law or to exercise powers vested by the state
constitution.
House Speaker Lee Chatfield, a Republican, said “the judiciary will have the final say.”
Whitmer
last week let some businesses like plant nurseries and bike repair
shops reopen, as well as stores selling nonessential supplies for
curbside pickup or delivery.
On
Friday, she allowed work that is traditionally and primarily done
outdoors — forestry workers, power equipment technicians, parking
enforcers — to resume next Thursday. Construction workers, real estate
agents, appraisers, brokers, inspectors and surveyors also will be able
to work in person. So will manufacturing workers who make items like
partitions, cubicles and furniture that will help businesses modify
their workplaces amid the pandemic.
Whitmer
hinted that auto plants may soon reopen as the curve of cases continues
to flatten, as long as the United Auto Workers union can ensure
employees feel safe — similarly to how building trade unions backed the
construction restart plan.
Trump
earlier encouraged Whitmer — whom the public has backed over him in
polling — to “give a little” and “put out the fire” with protesters,
attempting to strike a balance between supporting demonstrators who
express affinity for him and minding the advice of his scientific
experts.
Some
of the hundreds of protesters — many without face coverings — entered
the Capitol on Thursday and demanded to be let onto the House floor,
which is not allowed. The gallery was closed to the public to allow room
for representatives and reporters to spread apart. Some demonstrators
in the Senate gallery were openly carrying guns, which is legal in the
Statehouse but was criticized by Democratic lawmakers.
Senate
Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, a Republican who had encouraged people to
protest, said many did so safely and responsibly. But he said several
others are a “bunch of jackasses” who used intimidation and threats.
“I
condemn their behavior and denounce their tactics,” he said. “Their
actions hurt their cause and steal from the rights of others by creating
an environment where responsible citizens do not feel safe enough to
express themselves.”
Trump
has previously tried to pressure the first-term governor, who leads a
battleground state and is on presumptive Democratic presidential nominee
Joe Biden’s running mate list.
___
Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
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