LANSING (WXYZ) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed Tuesday extensions for Executive Orders 2020-48 and 2020-49.
Order 2020-48 relaxes the requirements of the Open Meetings Act, allowing the public to have meetings remotely while facilitating public participation. Order 2020-49 calls for the relax of regulatory requirements on hospitals and care facilities in order to ensure that hospitals have the people and facilities they need to provide care to COVID-19 patients, a release states.
“By extending these Executive Orders, we can ensure our hospitals and health care centers have the capacity needed to serve the health care needs of all Michiganders, while protecting the health of our local officials and residents by allowing public meetings to be held electronically,” Whitmer said. “These order help give our front line health care workers the support they need to do their jobs safely, and help local officials safely conduct the people’s business during this unprecedented crisis.”
Executive Order 2020-49 extends the authority of LARA and DHHS to waive or defer certain requirements in order to expedite the process of bringing additional care facilities online during the COVID-19 crisis. The order also empowers LARA to ensure an adequate supply of care providers during the emergency by granting the department additional flexibility in its decisions about licensing, registration and workflow requirements, a release states.
For Executive Order 2020-48, it extends the ability of local boards, commissions, committees, subcommittees, authorities, councils and nonprofit boards to use telephone- or video-conferencing methods to continue meeting and conducting business while ensuring the public has access to join the meetings.
Both executive orders are extended until May 12. To read Executive Order 2020-48 and Executive Order 2020-49 in full, click the links here and here.
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