Whitmer Signs Bill Extending Unemployment Through End Of Year

MICHIGAN — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday signed Senate Bills 886 and 991, codifying part of her executive orders expanding unemployment benefits to Michiganders.

The bills the governor signed Tuesday 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.

“No Michigander should have to worry about how to put food on the table or pay their bills, especially during a global pandemic,” Whitmer said. “These bipartisan bills are an important step in providing immediate relief for working families, but given the recent rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Michigan, I urge the legislature to take further action to make this permanent. 40 states, including all of our neighbors, automatically provide at least 26 weeks of unemployment relief. Michiganders deserve better than a short-term extension that expires at the end of the year. It’s time to work together on a long-term solution for working families.”

The bills were passed originally by legislators during the night of Oct. 13-14, as well as a series of others, many of which mirror executive orders issued by Whitmer amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Those orders, however, were deemed null when the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the law Whitmer cited in issuing executive orders was unconstitutional.

Last week, the court reaffirmed its decision by not extending Whitmer's previously issued orders to Oct. 30.

Since the court's initial ruling, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon on has issued emergency orders mirroring orders issued by Whitmer. One issued last week restricts gathering sizes and requires face coverings in pubic spaces.

Gordon's order comes under a legal authority enacted by the Michigan Legislature after the Spanish Flu of 1918 specifically to deal with epidemics, according to a news release. That statute was not at issue in the Supreme Court's ruling, officials said.

Local municipalities, such as Detroit, Wayne and Oakland counties, have also issued localized orders requiring similar measures.