Waterford Today

The Michigan Legislature has approved a plan that extends Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's state of emergency to May 1. 

Whitmer had wanted to extend her emergency powers through mid-June, but many lawmakers, including Rep. Mike Mueller (R-Linden), opposed this plan, according to a press release on the Michigan House Republicans website.

In the press release, Mueller said a mid-June extension was simply too long. 

“The public health crisis is ongoing, and I certainly believe we should extend the state of emergency to curtail the spread of the virus, but mid-June is too long,” Mueller said in the release. “An extension to May 1 is a better time frame, and we can always extend it if we need to.”

He also said in the release that the Legislature is a critical part of the separation of powers and needs to be a part of the decision making for a state-of-emergency extension. 

As of April 7, the Legislature has approved $150 million in response for the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the release. This included $50 million for testing and monitoring, $50 million for health care providers to expand the capacity needed and $50 million to keep in the reserve.