By Jon King/jking@whmi.com


A local lawmaker is asking Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to rethink the tightening of restrictions on which businesses can operate during the COVID-19 shutdown.

Following Thursday’s announcement by Gov. Whitmer to extend her “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order until April 30th, State Senator Lana Theis issued a statement voicing her support for extending Michigan’s emergency declaration, saying that it was, in part, because it was necessary for Michigan to continue to receive support from the federal government. She also agreed that a stay-at-home order makes sense for most people right now and is beneficial to mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

But Theis said, “like many residents in Livingston and Washtenaw counties” she was “extraordinarily frustrated by restrictions on private businesses that are preventing people from working who could safely be doing their jobs.” Theis says that includes workers who, in the course of doing their business, do not come into contact with others in a way that would violate CDC guidelines. As is the case in neighboring states, Theis says there should be exemptions in Michigan for workers in construction, landscaping, and other lines of work where there is little interpersonal contact. “Thousands of people are now seeking unemployment benefits when they would like nothing better than to get back to work. If they can do so safely, they should be allowed to. We need to strike a better balance of protecting public health and getting Michigan back to work safely. I am hopeful that the governor will rethink this order and make commonsense revisions as a first step to getting our state back in business.”

Whitmer’s position is that if the state doesn't "get the health crisis under control, the economic crisis will go on and on and on" noting that Singapore was considered the "gold standard" for combating COVID-19, but is now experiencing a second wave of infections, which she said would be, “the most devastating thing for our state.”

Starting today, people aren't allowed to travel between homes they own in Michigan or to vacation rentals, although they are allowed to travel back to Michigan from another state or go to homes or places of residence outside the state. Large retail stores must block areas dedicated to furniture, gardening and paint, which aren't viewed as essential supplies and will have to limit the number of people inside their facilities to no more than four customers for every 1,000 square feet of customer floor space. Small stores must limit capacity to 25% of total occupancy limits, including employees, under the fire codes.