Our state is experiencing an unemployment crisis, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s latest veto isn’t helping.
In Michigan, there aren’t too few jobs. On the contrary, job openings are everywhere, but after a year of lockdown orders, “non-essential” work closures, and big checks from the state to stay home, potential workers just aren’t biting.
One of the culprits? “Enhanced” unemployment benefits that spend an extra $300 in taxpayer money to keep people off the job.
Small businesses that survived the Governor’s lockdown orders are scratching and clawing to keep the lights on, but that’s tough to do when the state is paying residents more than ever not to submit a job application.
That’s why the state House and Senate recently approved a bill to end the state’s use of “enhanced” unemployment benefits. The Wall Street Journal examined the numbers. It turns out, the dozens of states – including many of our neighbors – that have ended “enhanced” benefits have seen folks get back into the workforce better and faster than those that don’t.
Small wonder that Michigan’s unemployment is still 300,000 jobs below where it was at the start of the pandemic. New unemployment claims jumped 13,000 just last week!
Governor Whitmer has been at war with jobs and workers for more than a year, so it probably shouldn’t have been surprising when she vetoed the pro-job legislation.
Our disappointment with the veto was covered in the Associated Press:
“Republicans and the conservative Michigan Freedom Fund criticized Whitmer’s veto, saying about 300,000 fewer residents are working than when the pandemic struck in early 2020.
“We’re never going to help struggling local businesses until we stop spending extra tax dollars to keep people out of the workforce,” executive director Tori Sachs said in a statement.”
We will continue to hold Whitmer and her administration accountable. But we can’t do it without your support! We need you to chip in today to support our mission at the Michigan Freedom Fund.
For Freedom,
Tori Sachs
Executive Director
Michigan Freedom Fund
Patch: Whitmer Rejects $155 Million Plan To Give $1,000 Scholarships For Elementary Reading Help
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed a $155 million program that would have provided $1,000 reading scholarships that opponents said looked too much like vouchers. The scholarships would have allowed families to get outside reading tutoring or instruction for elementary students.
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday vetoed a Republican-sponsored attempt to stop a $300 weekly federal supplement that is being added to unemployed workers’ benefits during the coronavirus pandemic.…Republicans and the conservative Michigan Freedom Fund criticized Whitmer’s veto, saying about 300,000 fewer residents are working than when the pandemic struck in early 2020.
The University of Michigan claimed in 2020 it was freezing the base salaries of all its employees.But when a Michigan Freedom of Information Act request was submitted for documents showing the gross pay of its employees, U-M officials refused, claiming the law only requires them to turn over base salary records. The requested documents would indicate whether some employees received bonuses or extra pay beyond base salary increases that had been frozen.
Mask-wearing in U.S. schools has generally lacked nuance. Children and adolescents wore masks for eight-hour stretches at critical phases of neurological development. They wore them close to others or far apart and in all classes including those where facial expressions are important (such as phonics or speech therapy). Yet masks affect the ability of young children, in particular, to read and give social cues, critical for cognitive, emotional and linguistic development. The longer we use masks in schools, the more pressing the potential impact on students’ long-term success.
