Governor Gretchen Whitmer says she will issue a declaration to extend Michigan’s COVID-19 state of emergency.
She will do that before the current state of emergency expires later this week.
Republicans in the Legislature and business groups are using litigation and a petition drive to try and curtail the governor’s emergency powers.
But the Democratic governor says face mask and strict shutdown orders early in the COVID crisis made it safer to re-open some sectors. And she says it is still critical for her to be able to act quickly to respond to changing circumstances.
“The state of emergency and the executive orders are together the backbone of our COVID-19 response.”
The governor says it will likely be months before she will be able to lift the state of emergency altogether.