Drive to repeal law Whitmer used in pandemic clears hurdle
DAVID EGGERT, Associated Press
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LANSING, Mich. (AP) A group trying to repeal an emergency powers law that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used for months to issue coronavirus restrictions cleared a key hurdle Monday when the Michigan elections bureau said it collected enough petitions.
Unlock Michigan, which has ties to Republicans, submitted an estimated 460,358 valid signatures, more than the roughly 340,000 needed, according to a staff report. If the bipartisan Board of State Canvassers agrees with the recommendation to certify the initiative, the GOP-led Legislature will likely pass the measure rather than let it go to a public vote in 2022. The Democratic governor could not veto it.
Jane C. Timm
April 18, 2021, 4:30 AM
Michigan Democrats have promised that any bills that attempt to place new restrictions on voting won t get past Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Those bills will not get signed into law, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, a Democrat, told NBC News of the proposals. He called the efforts part of an anti-voter, anti-democratic participation movement that is sweeping Republican-led legislatures across the nation.
But the state s GOP lawmakers, who enjoy majorities in both chambers but not enough to override a veto, have a unique option that could allow them to enact sweeping changes to elections in a critical presidential battleground without the governor s support: a little-used quirk in the state s ballot initiative process.
Whitmer: Michigan Supreme Court, Legislature partly to blame for COVID-19 surge Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press Shut your mouth! : Maxine Waters scolds Jim Jordan in Fauci subcommittee hearing
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LANSING Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said on NBC s Meet the Press Sunday the recent surge in coronavirus cases that has made Michigan a national outlier is partly the result of a Michigan Supreme Court ruling that struck down a key law she has used to fight the pandemic.
It was a departure from statements Whitmer made immediately following the October ruling, when she said she mostly retained powers related to public health measures but would require legislative approval for other measures, such as extending unemployment insurance benefits and allowing local governments to hold their public meetings remotely. Also, Whitmer in recent months has eased coronavirus restrictions voluntarily not in response to court rulings despite rising case numbers.
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“It was one of the great disappointments of the last session,” said Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, who sponsored police training legislation that died when the House failed to take it up by the end of 2020, choosing to approve its own version instead.
“It seems to me that there are a few ideas in that area that we should be able to come together on, and improving (police) training is perhaps the most obvious and easiest area of compromise and collaboration,” Irwin told Bridge Michigan.
Police practices remain under scrutiny this month following the deaths of Daunte Wright in Minnesota and 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Chicago, along with the trial of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is facing murder charges after kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes during an arrest on May 25.