LANSING (WXYZ) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday signed Senate Bills 886 and 991, which extends unemployment benefits for Michiganders through the end of the year. Both bills were sponsored by Sen. Ken Horn (R-Frankenmuth) in a bipartisanship effort.
The newly signed bills extend unemployment benefits for those in need from 20 weeks to 26 weeks.
"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.”
Earlier in October, Whitmer requested clarity on when the state’s Supreme Court ruling on her executive orders goes into effect, saying more than 800,000 Michiganders could be at risk of losing unemployment benefits if the orders are struck down immediately. Those orders were effective immediately. However, the state's health department reissued many of those COVID emergency orders.
The bills signed Tuesday codify the majority of Gov. Whitmer's earlier executive orders on unemployment. Now Whitmer is calling on the Republicnan Legislature to make this move permanent.
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